A protein usually associated with muscles could give researchers a target for attacking Prostate cancer, scientists at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center found.
Researchers have for the first time implicated the muscle protein myosin VI in the development of prostate cancer and its spread.
In a series of lab studies with human prostate cancer cells, the Hopkins scientists found overproduction of myosin VI in both prostate tumor cells and precancerous lesions. When the scientists genetically altered the cells to “silence” the protein, the cells were less able to “invade” healthy tissue in a test tube.
“Our results suggest that myosin VI may be critical in starting and maintaining the malignant properties of the majority of human prostate cancers diagnosed today,” said Dr. Angelo M. De Marzo, a study co-author and associate professor of pathology, urology and oncology.
The study, published in the November issue of the American Journal of Pathology, points the way to finding better ways to diagnose prostate cancer, as well as treat and track the effectiveness of drugs and surgery.
“Targeting myosin VI represents a promising new approach that could lead eventually new approaches to treating the disease,” says Jun Luo, senior author of the paper.
Myosins are a class of 40 motor proteins that power cell movement and muscle contractions, the study says. Normally, as they work, myosins slide in a single direction along the threads of a protein called actin. But myosin VI moves against the grain, and it does not function as a classical “muscle” protein. Myosin VI also has been shown to be associated with ovarian cancer.
An American man, in his lifetime has about a 1 in 6 chance of being diagnosed with prostate cancer and a 3 percent chance (1 in 33) of dying from prostate cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
