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SUMMARY:Cancer cell mechanics - Dr Michael Beil\, Department of Internal M
 edicine I\, University of Ulm\, Germany
DTSTART:20071102T141500Z
DTEND:20071102T151500Z
UID:TALK8034@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Jurij Kotar
DESCRIPTION:Metastasis of carcinomas starts with the dissemination of indi
 vidual cancer cells to other\ntissues and organs. Although secretion of pr
 oteolytic enzymes appears to be involved in the\ninvasive spreading of car
 cinomas\, its inhibition is not sufficient to stop cancer cell motility.\n
 Thus\, cells have to employ additional mechanisms for migration through ti
 ssue channels.\nThese processes include the modulation of cell shape and e
 lasticity which is regulated by the\ncytoskeleton. Among the three filamen
 t systems of the cytoskeleton - microfilaments (actin)\,\nmicrotubules\, i
 ntermediate filaments (iF) - the iF system is the least understood. Wherea
 s\nactin and microtubules are required for cell survival\, several iF knoc
 k-out mice have an\nalmost normal phenotype under resting conditions. Howe
 ver\, when cells from these models\nare exposed to mechanical stress they 
 show a clearly distinct behaviour in comparison to\nwild type cells. In ca
 ncer\, expression of iF proteins was found to be altered and correlates\nw
 ith the survival of patients. This presentation will discuss the link betw
 een iF expression\, iF\nnetwork architecture\, cell mechanics and cancer c
 ell motility.\n
LOCATION:IRC in Superconductivity Seminar Room\, Cavendish Laboratory
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