Researchers of a new study found that angiomotin, a protein previously believed to prevent tumor growth is actually responsible for the initial growth of cancerous tumors.
Angiomotin is a protein that coordinates cell migration, especially during the start of new blood vessel growth and proliferation of other cell types. Previously, it was believed that this protein prevented and restrained the growth of tumor. However, in a new study conducted by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), it was discovered that this protein in fact plays a role in the initial growth of cancerous tumors.
"We were the first to describe angiomotin's involvement in cancer," said Joseph Kissil, a TSRI associate professor who led the studies, in a press statement. "And while some following studies found it to be inhibiting, we wanted to clarify its role by using both cell studies and animal models. As a result, we have now found that it is not an inhibitor at all, but instead is required for Yap to produce new tumor growth."
Yap is a gene in the body that under certain circumstances coverts a normal cell into a tumor cell. The new study also led to the discovery that angiomotin is also active in the cell nucleus, though scientists previously though it was only active in the cell membrane.
These new discoveries could pave the way for the development of new cancer treatments. Cancer causes nearly half a million deaths in America each year. One in every four deaths in the United States is caused due to cancer. This fatal disease is the second leading cause of death in the U.S., coming second only to heart diseases.
According to latest predictions, about 1,660,290 new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2013 with 580,350 Americans being projected to die of cancer this year. The number translates to almost 1,600 people a day.
