discovery-metastatic-regulators-using-rapid-quantitative-intravital

Discovery of Metastatic Regulators using a Rapid and Quantitative Intravital Chick Chorioallantoic Membrane Model

Recent advances in cancer research has illustrated the highly complex nature of cancer metastasis. Multiple genes or genes networks have been found to be ...

University of Calgary

Metastasis is the most lethal aspect of cancer, yet current therapeutic strategies do not target its key rate-limiting steps. We have previously shown that the entry of cancer cells into the blood stream, or intravasation, is highly dependent upon in vivo cancer cell motility, making it an attractive therapeutic target. To systemically identify genes required for tumor cell motility in an in vivo tumor microenvironment, we established a novel quantitative in vivo screening platform based on intravital imaging of human cancer metastasis in ex ovo avian embryos. Utilizing this platform to screen a genome-wide shRNA library, we identified a panel of novel genes whose function is required for productive cancer cell motility in vivo, and whose expression is closely associated with metastatic risk in human cancers. The RNAi-mediated inhibition of these gene targets resulted in a nearly total (>99.5%) block of spontaneous cancer metastasis in vivo.

Lian Willetts

Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy,
Cumming School of Medicine,
Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy, Cumming School of Medicine

University of Calgary

Discovery of Metastatic Regulators using a Rapid and Quantitative Intravital Chick Chorioallantoic Membrane Model

Lian Willetts

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy,Cumming School of Medicine,Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy, Cumming School of Medicine

University of Calgary

Discovery of Metastatic Regulators using a Rapid and Quantitative Intravital Chick Chorioallantoic Membrane Model

Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy,
Cumming School of Medicine,
Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy, Cumming School of Medicine