Friday, March 25, 2016

SPARCing the ECM - Interview with Meghan Morrissey

Cancer cell metastasis is one of the most important factor that worsens disease prognosis. During metastasis, cells invade blood vessels and other tissues by first passing through a barrier of extra-cellular matrix: a wall of structural components surrounding all cell types. How are cells able to achieve breakdown and invasion of this wall?

Meghan Morrissey and her colleagues started to look at the role played by SPARC family of genes in the process. The SPARC family has been implicated to play a role in cell invasion, but its exact nature was unknown. Using a model of anchor cell invasion in C. elegans, she elegantly and beautifully provides insight into the link. We talk with her to know more.



Please read the original article here:
SPARC Promotes Cell Invasion In Vivo by Decreasing Type IV Collagen Levels in the Basement Membrane  
Morrissey et al., PLoS Genet 12(2): e1005905, 2016.