NEWS: Breakthrough Uses Light To Manipulate Cell Movement
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090819135434.htm
ScienceDaily (Aug. 20, 2009) — One of
the biggest challenges in scientists' quest to develop new and better
treatments for cancer is gaining a better understanding of how and why cancer
spreads. Recent breakthroughs have uncovered how different cellular proteins
are turned 'on' or 'off' at the molecular level, but much remains to be
understood about how protein signaling influences cell behavior.
A new technique developed by Klaus Hahn, Ph.D. and his colleagues uses light
to manipulate the activity of a protein at precise times and places within a
living cell, providing a new tool for scientists who study the fundamentals of
protein function.
In a paper published today in the journal Nature, Hahn, who is the
Thurman Professor of Pharmacology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill and a member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, described the
technique, which uses light to control protein behavior in cells and animals
simply by shining light on the cells where they want the protein to be active.
"The technology has exciting applications in basic research – in
many cases the same protein can be either cancer-producing or beneficial,
depending on where in a cell it is activated. Now researchers can control where
that happens and study this heretofore inaccessible level of cellular
control," said Hahn.
"Because we first tested this new technology on a protein that
initiates cell movement, we can now use light to control where and how cells
move. This is quite valuable in studies where cell movement is the focus of the
research, including embryonic development, nerve regeneration and cancer
metastasis," he added.
The new technology is an advance over previous light-directed methods of
cellular control that used toxic wavelengths of life, disrupted the cell
membrane or could switch proteins 'on' but not 'off'.
The research in Hahn's lab was carried out by Yi Wu, PhD, research assistant
professor of pharmacology, in collaboration with a team led by Brian Kuhlman,
PhD, associate professor of biochemistry and biophysics at UNC and a team led
by Ilme Schlichting, PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in
Heidelberg, Germany.
This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
Adapted
from materials provided by University
of North Carolina School of Medicine, via EurekAlert!, a service of
AAAS.
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