ZEB1 protein, known to promote invasiveness of epithelial tumors, also influences the ability of tumor initiation of pancreatic and colorectal cells and could lead to the proliferation of cancer cells once they have reached a new body
A protein promotes metastasis by providing characteristics of stem cells to cancer cells, according to a study by the University of Freiburg in Germany, which is published in the online edition of the journal Nature Cell Biology.
The finding suggests that using objective this feedback mechanism in which ZEB1 part, could represent a promising avenue for the treatment of certain cancers.
Previous studies showed that small RNAs miR200 family inhibited cell invasion and movement of certain cancerous tissues through direct inhibition of ZEB1. In turn, ZEB1 suppresses the expression of miR200.
The scientists, led by Thomas Brabletz now show that miR200 also inhibits several factors necessary for the maintenance of stem cell characteristics, including factors that promote self-renewal, proliferation and inhibition of differentiation.
The authors also show that the loss of ZEB1 in cell lines of human pancreatic cancer reduces their potential to suppress tumor initiation-dependent inhibition of miR200, the factors of stem cells.
By examining primary pancreatic cancer tissue of experimental models and humans, the researchers show that less differentiated tumors express high levels of ZEB1 and factors of stem cells, while tumors isolated from patients who are long-term survivors of pancreatic cancer ZEB1 levels are low.
The study suggests that ZEB1 promotes both expansion and tumor initiation by increasing stem cell characteristics of cells that migrate from the primary tumor to form metastases.