A group of scientists from the Institute of cancer research and Manchester University found that cancer cells can force normal cells to help your reproduction. For this they use a mutated gene responsible for cell division. The results are published in the journal Cell. Press release available on the website EurekAlert!
Researchers have studied the communication networks between cancer cells and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. This form of cancer is responsible for nine thousand deaths in the UK each year. The scientists studied about a thousand different compounds responsible for growth, including enzymes, receptors and signaling molecules.
The results showed that a defective version of the gene KRAS, which normally participates in the mechanism of cell division, affects not only malignant but also healthy cells. Mutation in KRAS gene contributes to hyperactivity and, as a consequence, uncontrolled growth of cells. KRAS is mutated in 90 percent of cases of pancreatic cancer and in 20 percent of all cases of the cancer. However, as it turned out, gene sends signals to the healthy cells to produce growth factors that the tumor itself can not produce.
The tumor is composed of various cell types. One group is “bad” cells, the other consists of normal cells that form connective tissue (stromal cells). The latter are involved in an intricate network of signaling interactions that have become “hostages” of cancer and help its growth and formation of metastases.
According to scientists, research how to construct this network, and also decoding of the individual signals will help to elucidate the mechanisms controlling tumor growth and its spread throughout the body. Blocking mutated KRAS gene can contribute to the creation of effective cancer treatments.
