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Updated: Jul 7, 2026
11:42
Induction of Mesenchymal-Epithelial Transitions in Sarcoma Cells
Published on: April 7, 2017
Stathmin activity influences sarcoma cell shape, motility, and metastatic potential
Barbara Belletti1, Milena S Nicoloso, Monica Schiappacassi
1Division of Experimental Oncology 2, Division of Pathology, and Clinical and Experimental Hematology Research Unit, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, Istituto Nazionale Tumori, IRCCS Aviano 33081, Italy.
Molecular Biology of the Cell
|February 29, 2008
Summary
Stathmin protein promotes sarcoma cell movement and metastasis by affecting microtubule dynamics. Targeting stathmin could offer new strategies against cancer spread.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Cancer Research
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Microtubule dynamics are crucial for cellular functions like migration and morphology.
- Stathmin, a microtubule-destabilizing protein, is overexpressed in human cancers and linked to cell motility.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of stathmin in sarcoma invasiveness and metastasis.
- To understand how stathmin's interaction with the extracellular matrix (ECM) influences tumor cell behavior.
Main Methods:
- In vitro and in vivo experiments using sarcoma cells.
- Analysis of stathmin phosphorylation status upon ECM contact.
- Utilizing a less phosphorylable stathmin mutant to assess its functional impact.
Main Results:
- Stathmin enhances sarcoma cell motility through the ECM in vitro.
- Stathmin increases the metastatic potential of sarcoma cells in vivo.
- A less phosphorylable stathmin mutant impairs ECM-induced microtubule stabilization, leading to increased invasiveness and amoeboid motility.
Conclusions:
- Stathmin plays a significant role in driving tumor metastasis.
- Modulating stathmin activity presents a potential therapeutic target for antimetastatic drugs.
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