Decoy Protein Created to Halt Tumor Metastis
September 24, 2014
(Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News) – Scientists at Stanford University say they have developed a protein therapy that disrupts the process that causes cancer cells to metastasize. The researchers focus on preventing two proteins—Axl and Gas6—from interacting to initiate the spread of cancer. Axl proteins stand like bristles on the surface of cancer cells, poised to receive biochemical signals from Gas6 proteins. When two Gas6 proteins link with two Axls, the signals that are generated enable cancer cells to leave the original tumor site, migrate to other parts of the body, and form new cancer nodules.