Release Date:
Jul 29, 2019
Anne Cress, PhD and her lab - in collaboration with two other CMM faculty members (Cindy Miranti, PhD and Noel Warfel, PhD) and the gene editing core service in the UA Cancer Center (led by Nathan Ellis, PhD) - found that tumors use a specific modification of an adhesion receptor called α6 integrin to generate invasive aggressive networks. The surprising finding was that gene editing of a specific extracellular region, not required for normal tissue function, can generate a new biophysical cancer phenotype unable to invade the structured muscle. PMID: 31337652