Scientists Find Molecular Switch That Helps Cancer Cells Defy Death

From SciTechDaily

Cells often encounter environmental pressures that can harm or even kill them. To stay alive, they rapidly shift which genes are active so they can mount a protective response. Cancer cells face this challenge even more intensely because they grow within a microenvironment that is naturally difficult to survive in. Despite this, they manage to flourish, activating genes that support the formation of larger tumors or allow them to spread elsewhere in the body.

Exactly how cancer cells turn harsh conditions into an advantage has remained unclear. Researchers at Rockefeller University suspected the answer involved the way transcription machinery detects stress and adjusts its activity. Their work has now identified a molecular switch in breast cancer cells that redirects gene expression toward growth and stress tolerance.