The Daily Bulletin Archive

Please join the Biology Department and the Great Lakes Center for the seminar "The Role of a Novel Myosin in Prostate Cancer Metastasis," presented by Wilma Hofmann, associate professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics in the University at Buffalo's Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, today, October 21, from 3:00 to 3:50 p.m. in Technology Building 160. All students, staff, and faculty are welcome.

Abstract
The underlying cause of mortality in prostate cancer is cancer progression that is caused by tumor cells that spread from a primary tumor site and invade other tissues. We recently identified a new myosin isoform that is selectively expressed in invasive human prostate cancer cells and that is critically involved in the intracellular transport of secretory vesicles. Importantly, our data show that expression of this isoform is functionally linked to a significant increase in secretion of factors that are involved in degradation of extracellular material and thus can be causally linked to the increased metastatic potential of cells that express this isoform. Taken together, our data have identified a molecule suitable for a mechanistically grounded development into a marker and target for prognosis, detection, and treatment of invasive prostate cancer.