Two proteins compete for one port on a growth factor; one promotes metastasis, the other blocks it
Such is the case with two proteins identified by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center that fit on to the same binding site on an important cellular growth factor receptor called FGFR2 with starkly different results. "There is competition for binding to FGFR2 and one of the two competitors, phospholipase Cγ1 (Plcγ1), will increase cancer cell metastasis. The other protein inhibits the opportunity for this to occur," said John Ladbury, Ph.D., professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. …