A new cancer study has investigated the role of a particular organelle: the centrosome, which plays a pivotal role in regulation of cell division.
In healthy cells, there is just one centrosome; as part of the cytoskeleton, it also provides the cell with structure.
But scientists have known for some time that certain types of cancer cells have multiple centrosomes, known as centrosome amplification UK researchers led by Susana Godinho at Bart’s Cancer institute in London, who studied changes in normal cells that lead to cancer, found cells with too many centrosomes ‘secrete tiny packets called small extracellular vesicles’.
Professor Steve Royle at the University of Warwick told medicalnewstoday.com: ‘It seems these packets are a way for the cancer cell to communicate with the surrounding tissue. In pancreatic cancer, the ‘message’ from these packets favours cancer cell movement.’ Authors of the study, published in Current Biology, conclude: ‘Our finding demonstrate centrosome amplification promotes quantitative and qualitative changes in secreted (small extracellular vesicles) that could influence communication between the tumour and the associated stroma to promote malignancy.’
Professor Royle explained: ‘The process by which cancer cells move and invade healthy tissue is of huge interest because this is the way metastases occur, the most dangerous aspect of cancer.’ He said understanding this mechanism could lead to novel cancer treatments in the future.
