The majority of all cancer deaths arise from the metastatic spread of primary tumors. The most clinically relevant processes, invasion into surrounding tissue and distant organs, are however the least understood. Cancer cell invasion is a highly complex and multistep process that is characterized by the altered expression levels of cell adhesion molecules and secretion of proteolytic enzymes together with changes in expression or activities of a variety of cellular proteins in multiple branching signaling pathways.
Our recent studies demonstrate that tumor cell invasion may also result from the disorganization and clustering of specific membrane proteins or lipids and their assembly with signaling molecules inducing the activation of associated downstream signaling pathways.
With cancer treatment moving towards targeted therapeutics that exert their anti-cancer effects by specifically blocking signaling, a more profound understanding of the complex interplay between the distinct molecules involved in invasion is necessary and the ultimate goal for combating cancer progression.
Our aim is to elucidate the spatial organization of cell surface molecules and activation of linked signaling pathways as cancer cells acquire the invasive phenotype by using human models of cancer cell progression and assessment in clinically relevant specimen. |
