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Cell biology

Tumour jailbreak

Nature volume 424, pages 889–890 (2003)Cite this article

New work shows that a cage-like matrix of protein fibres around cells can inhibit the growth of tumours. But cancer cells producing the enzyme MT1-MMP can cleave this matrix and proliferate freely.

Tumour cells resemble hardened criminals. They defy the body's social restraints, altering their behaviour and interactions to proliferate and spread as they please. The body also has potential physical restraints — the three-dimensional mesh-like matrices that provide support for normal cells — and Hotary et al.1 now report in Cell that these can prevent the proliferation of tumour cells in the laboratory. But if the cells are able to produce a specific matrix-cleaving enzyme, they can escape these physical restraints as well, becoming free to change shape and multiply.

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Figure 1: Tumour cells: prisoners and escapees.

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  1. National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892-4370, Maryland, USA

    Kenneth M. Yamada

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  1. Kenneth M. Yamada
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Yamada, K. Tumour jailbreak. Nature 424, 889–890 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/424889a

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/424889a

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