Warren symposium follows legacy of geneticist giant

If we want to understand how the brain creates memories, and how genetic disorders distort the brain’s machinery, then the fragile X gene is an ideal place to start. That’s why the Stephen T. Warren Memorial Symposium, taking place November 28-29 at Emory, will be a significant event for those interested in neuroscience and genetics. Stephen T. Warren, 1953-2021 Warren, the founding chair of Emory’s Department of Human Genetics, led an international team that discovered Read more

Mutations in V-ATPase proton pump implicated in epilepsy syndrome

Why and how disrupting V-ATPase function leads to epilepsy, researchers are just starting to figure Read more

Tracing the start of COVID-19 in GA

At a time when COVID-19 appears to be receding in much of Georgia, it’s worth revisiting the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Emory virologist Anne Piantadosi and colleagues have a paper in Viral Evolution on the earliest SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequences detected in Georgia. Analyzing relationships between those virus sequences and samples from other states and countries can give us an idea about where the first COVID-19 infections in Georgia came from. We can draw Read more
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Adam Marcus

Marcus Lab researchers make key cancer discovery

A new discovery by Emory researchers in certain lung cancer patients could help improve patient outcomes before the cancer metastasizes.

The researchers in the renowned Marcus Laboratory identified that highly invasive leader cells have a specific cluster of mutations that are also found in non-small cell lung cancer patients. Leader cells play a dominant role in tumor progression, and the researchers discovered that patients with the mutations experienced poorer survival rates.

The findings mark the first leader cell mutation signature identified in patients and could prove key in teasing out high-risk patients, allowing oncologists to develop a treatment plan early on before the disease has progressed.

“It has been a lot of fun to see the research go from the basic science side inside the lab to hopefully having an actual clinical impact,” says Brian Pedro, an MD/PhD student in Emory’s Medical Scientist Training Program. “Our data suggest that if you have one or more of these mutations, then we could potentially intervene early and improve patient outcomes.”

Stopping leader cells before they metastasize has long been a goal of researchers at the Winship Cancer Institute. “That is what we strive for as researchers,” Pedro says. “We are optimistic that this could be a promising clinical tool.”

The findings were published in the American Cancer Society’s journal “Cancer.”

The researchers specifically found the novel mutation cluster on chromosome 16q and compared the survival rates of those who had the mutations with those who did not. The results showed the patients who had the mutations had poorer survival rates across all stages.

Pedro says more investigation is needed to figure out why the mutations lead to poorer outcomes. He adds that he hopes the mutation signature can prove useful for cancer types beyond lung cancer.

You can learn more from Pedro’s Tweetstorm.

 

Posted on April 28, 2020 by Wayne Drash in Cancer, Uncategorized Leave a comment

Targeting metastasis through metabolism

Research from Adam Marcus’ and Mala Shanmugam’s labs was published Tuesday in Nature Communications – months after we wrote an article for Winship Cancer Institute’s magazine about it. So here it is again!

At your last visit to the dentist, you may have been given a mouth rinse with the antiseptic chlorhexidine. Available over the counter, chlorhexidine is also washed over the skin to prepare someone for surgery. Winship researchers are now looking at chlorhexidine and its chemical relative alexidine for another purpose: stopping cancer metastasis.

While the researchers don’t envision using chlorhexidine mouthwash as an anti-cancer measure directly, their findings suggest ways to combine other drugs, already in clinical trials, in ways that could deplete the cells needed for metastasis.

When used as an antiseptic, chlorhexidine is basically a detergent that blasts bacteria apart, scientists think. As leads for potential anti-cancer agents, chlorhexidine and its relatives appear to have a different effect. They interfere with mitochondria, the miniature power plants in our cells. Cancer cells trying to metastasize and invade other tissues seem to need their mitochondria more—especially the cells that are leading the way. Read more

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Quinn Eastman in Cancer Leave a comment

Invasive cancer cells marked by distinctive mutations

What does it take to be a leader – of cancer cells?

Adam Marcus and colleagues at Winship Cancer Institute are back, with an analysis of mutations that drive metastatic behavior among groups of lung cancer cells. The findings were published this week on the cover of Journal of Cell Science, and suggest pharmacological strategies to intervene against or prevent metastasis.

Marcus and former graduate student Jessica Konen previously developed a technique for selectively labeling “leader” or “follower” lung cancer cells in culture, using lasers that turn a fluorescent protein from green to red. The leaders are more adventurous and invasive, but the followers support the leaders and help them survive. Check out our prize-winning video and their 2017 Nature Communications paper.

The magenta cells have leader-specific mutated Arp3 protein, while the green cells are unmodified followers.

The new research harnesses their technique to track the mutations that are specific to leader or follower cells. It was a collaboration with the lab of Paula Vertino, formerly at Winship and now at University of Rochester. Cancer Biology graduate students Elizabeth Zoeller and Brian Pedro led the work, with sophisticated genomics from Ben Barwick.

One of the leader-specific mutations was in Arp3, part of a protein complex that promotes the protrusion of cellular blobs, facilitating migration. The researchers took the mutated Arp3 protein from leader cells and forced its production in follower cells. In the cover image, the magenta cells on the outside are the ones with the mutated Arp3 protein, while the green cells are unmodified. Read more

Posted on October 11, 2019 by Quinn Eastman in Cancer Leave a comment

Invasive lung cancer cells have distinct roles

When cancer cells split off from a tumor to seed deadly metastases, they are thought to travel as clusters or packs, a phenomenon known as collective invasion. The members of an invasive pack are not all alike, scientists at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University have learned.

Lung cancer cells making up an invasive pack have specialized roles as leaders and followers, which depend on each other for mobility and survival, the scientists report in Nature Communications. Those who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure may consult a mesothelioma attorney to determine which legal actions they can take.

The distinctions between leaders and followers, as well as their interdependence, could potentially unlock new avenues for future treatments focused on impeding or preventing cancer metastasis. According to senior author Adam Marcus, PhD, associate professor of hematology and medical oncology at Winship Cancer Institute and Emory University School of Medicine, understanding these dynamics may be crucial. If you’re looking for more information or assistance, you might consider searching for “medical clinics near me” to explore local healthcare options.

“We’re finding that leader and follower cells have a symbiotic relationship and depend on each for survival and invasion,” he says. “Because metastatic invasion is the deadliest aspect of cancer, our goal is to find agents that disrupt that symbiotic relationship.”

Marcus and former graduate student Jessica Konen, PhD began by observing how a mass of lung cancer cells behaves when embedded in a 3-D protein gel. The cells generally stick together, but occasionally, a few cells extend out of the mass like tentacles, with the leader cell at the tip.

“We saw that when the leader cell became detached or died unexpectedly, the followers could no longer move,” says Konen, now a postdoctoral fellow at MD Anderson. “In one particular movie, we saw a leader cell come out away from the rest of the cells, and then seem to realize that nobody was following him. He actually did a 180, and went back to grab cells to bring with him.”

Read more

Posted on May 15, 2017 by Quinn Eastman in Cancer 1 Comment

Lung cancer cells go amoeboid

Cancer biologists Jessica Konen and Scott Wilkinson, in Adam Marcus’ lab, recently published a paper on the function of LKB1, a gene that is often mutated in lung cancer cells. [Number three behind K-ras and p53.]

Amoeboid

Mesenchymal shape is defined as having a length more than twice the width. Amoeboid looks more like the cell on the right: rounded up. Thanks to Jessica Konen for photo.

Konen and Marcus were featured in a prize-winning video that our team produced last year, which discusses how they developed a technique for isolating “leader cells” — lung cancer cells that migrate and invade more quickly — from a large group and studying those cells’ properties more intensively.

The Molecular Biology of the Cell paper covers a related topic: how LKB1 mutation affects cell shape. In particular, losing LKB1 converts lung cancer cells from a “mesenchymal” morphology to an “amoeboid” morphology.  Read more

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Quinn Eastman in Cancer Leave a comment

Chasing invasive cancer cells and more at #ASCB15

Earlier today, we posted a notice on Eurekalert for a Sunday, December 13 presentation by graduate student Jessica Konen at the American Society for Cell Biology meeting in San Diego.

Her research, performed with Adam Marcus at Winship Cancer Institute, was the topic of a video that recently won first prize in a contest sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges. This was our video team’s first use of the “fast hand on whiteboard” effect, and a lot of fun to make. The video’s strength grows out of the footage Konen and Marcus have of cancer cells migrating in culture. Check it out, if you haven’t already.

Poster presentations at the 2015 ASCB meeting can be found by searching this PDF. A few Emory-centric highlights:

*Chelsey Ruppersburg and Criss Hartzell’s work on the “nimbus”, a torus-shaped structure enriched in proteins needed to build the cell’s primary cilium

*Anita Corbett on how Emory students have a strong record of attaining their own NIH research funding

*Additional work by Adam Marcus’ lab on the tumor suppressor gene LKB1 and how its loss drives lung cancer cells to take on a “unique amoeboid morphology”

*Research from David Katz’s lab on the “epigenetic eraser” LSD1 (lysine-specific demethylase) and its function in neurons and neurodegeneration Read more

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Quinn Eastman in Cancer, Neuro Leave a comment

Cancer metastasis: isolating invasive cells with a color change

The capacity of cancer cells to spread throughout the body and metastasize (invade new tissues) makes them deadly. What makes metastatic cells different?

Scientists at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University have developed a technique for isolating individual cells that display invasive behavior out of a large group in culture by changing their color.

Read more

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Quinn Eastman in Cancer Leave a comment

Shoutout to Not a Mad Scientist

Cheers to microscopist and Winship Cancer Institute researcher Adam Marcus, who has started his own blog called “Not a Mad Scientist.” His first post talks about his educational outreach activities:

I have a super huge, somewhat tattered, and quite ugly suitcase that sits in my office.  This suitcase is not packed with clothes or extra large toiletries, but contains a pretty cool microscope, computer, and some shipping foam. Every few weeks I wheel it into the hallway, then into the elevator, and eventually into my car. The suitcase and I end up in Kindergarten-12th grade classrooms where I try to teach children something about science that they would not normally see.  I try to give them something different, something real, something scientific. I have seen over 3,000 children in about 200 classrooms in rural and urban schools, from pre-K to 12th grade…

We had a post in October about his lab’s research investigating Withania somnifera, a root used in Indian traditional medicine that contains potential tools for stopping breast cancer invasion and metastasis. Marcus’ blog has a collection of microscope movies, which we hope he will keep current.

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Quinn Eastman in Cancer Leave a comment

Stop the blob!

For your viewing pleasure, we have two videos, courtesy of Winship Cancer Institute’s Adam Marcus. He and his colleagues are investigating whether Withania somnifera, a root used in Indian traditional medicine, could be a source for drugs that inhibit breast cancer invasion and metastasis. Metastasis occurs when cells from a primary tumor migrate to a new location and invade the tissues at the new location.

The first video, the blob that grows, shows MCF10a mammary Ray Ban outlet epithelial cells undergoing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in response to TGF-beta. This is a laboratory model for understanding breast cancer invasion and metastasis.

The second shows what happens when the same cells are treated with an extract from Withania somnifera. The blob doesn’t expand in such a threatening way anymore! The results were recently published in PLOS One.

 

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Quinn Eastman in Cancer Leave a comment