Breast cancer cell adhesome and degradome interact to drive metastasis

Proteins that assist breast cancer cells to stick to healthy tissue influence levels of enzymes that destroy healthy tissue — helping tumors to spread. Enzymes known as matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are essential for metastasis because they help tumor cells to migrate by degrading nearby healthy tissue. However, treatments that target them have been unsuccessful. Kristine Glunde and co-workers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the United States set out to identify molecules that affect MMP levels. The team profiled cell adhesion and degradation proteins expressed by metastatic and non-metastatic breast cancer cells and used an online database to identify interactions. They found that adhesion molecules such as integrins and e-cadherin alter MMP levels, and vice-versa, and suggest that critical nodes in the adhesion–degradation network make the best clinical targets.