A protein, called DENND2B, commonly found in human cells can be an important switch that activates cancer cell metastasis.

Principal researcher Peter McPherson said, "DENND2B activates another protein in the cell called Rab13, which is an enzyme that promotes cell migration."
Researcher Maria Ioannou said, "We found that Rab13 has an unusually high degree of expression in many forms of cancer, especially epithelial cancers that often metastasize to the brain. It was important to see exactly where in the cell Rab13 was being turned on to figure out how it functions. We saw that the DENND2B protein was activating Rab13 at the leading edge of the cell, an important point for cell migration."
Researchers see Rab13 as a focus for future research into cancer therapies. McPherson said, "In the case of the cells with reduced Rab13 levels, the cancer either did not grow at all or formed a smaller tumor and furthermore, the smaller tumor did not metastasize into other tissue. No one had considered targeting Rab13 in relation to cancer before this study. Clinical trials involving the discovery are still some time away."
The study will appear in the Journal of Cell Biology.
Source-Medindia