Cancer cells are most deadly when they’re on the move – able not only to destroy whatever organ they are first formed in, but also to create colonies elsewhere in the body. New research has now shown how a small RNA prevents the recruitment and formation of blood vessels near cancer cells destined to become metastases, a process that must occur in order for them to grow. The scientists say that if drugs could be developed that act on the pathways regulated by this microRNA, they might be able to block the metastatic process and prevent some breast cancers from becoming deadly.
In the Media
December 14, 2011
Nature online: December 14, 2011 A microRNA regulon that mediates endothelial recruitment and metastasis by cancer cells Kim J. Png, Nils Halberg, Mitsukuni Yoshida and Sohail F. Tavazoie Here we reveal that endogenous miR-126, an miRNA silenced in a variety...
December 18, 2009
Investigators at The Rockefeller University have so far been awarded 41 federal grants and supplemental awards through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) — the so-called “stimulus” legislation passed by Congress last winter. Ranging in size from about $5,000 to nearly $4.6 million, the grants will fund new and ongoing projects in biomedical and clinical research and training.
September 24, 2009
One of Rockefeller’s newest faculty recruits, Tavazoie aims to identify small pieces of RNA, known as microRNAs, that may signal a high potential for metastasis or that can effectively distinguish between cancers that will be responsive to chemotherapy and those that would be better candidates for alternative and experimental therapies.
September 16, 2008
Sohail Tavazoie, a physician-scientist whose research focuses on the molecular basis of cancer metastasis, has been named assistant professor and will join The Rockefeller University as head of the Laboratory of Systems Cancer Biology in January 2009.
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