PLEXIN B1 AND THE PROGRESSION OF PROSTATE CANCER
Miss Tharani Nitkunan BSc, MBBS, MRCS Eng University College London |
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer affecting men in the UK and kills approximately 10,000 men each year. It can either present with early disease localized in the prostate or as metastatic cancer that has spread, usually to bone. Localized prostate cancer can be successfully managed with surgery or radiotherapy. However, once the disease has spread beyond the primary site, there is little hope of cure. Our aim is to identify key players in the spread of prostate cancer.
My supervisor Dr Magali Williamson has found that a gene in the semaphorin signalling pathway is often mutated in prostate cancer. This gene codes for the cell surface receptor, plexin B1. This gene alteration has been found in about half of the primary prostate cancer and in nearly all the cancers that have spread. This suggests that plexin B1 is involved in the spread of cancer, which is a very exciting breakthrough.
My aim is to identify what effect these mutations have on cell function. To do this I will be using a variety of scientific methods. I have introduced the mutation into DNA constructs of truncated and full-length plexin B1. I have shown the protein expression of mutated and unmutated plexin B1 in cos7 cells by immunofluorescence.
Cells transiently transfected with the mutated DNA construct are being used in cell motility and invasion tests to illustrate a difference between the mutated and unmutated plexin B1.
If we do find that these alterations in the gene affect metastasis, we would then look towards using this information in the clinical setting. By interfering with this signalling pathway, we may be able to delay or prevent metastasis.
Research summary dated 05 December 2004
Project 2002/16