Communication is the key – that’s also true for cells

Scientists at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna and at the University of Innsbruck have identified a mechanism by which signals are transmitted in cells. The discoveries that have been published today are expected to help understanding the formation of cancer and allow the development of new therapeutic concepts.

All cells in living organisms are exposed to a constant bombardment of information from their environment. Incoming signals, mediated by so-called growth factors, dictate the fate of the cell: to grow, to divide, to differentiate, ultimately to die. The various different signals have to be correctly interpreted and precisely followed by the cell. Failure to do so may lead to erroneous reactions with sometimes fatal consequences for the organism. After all, tumours evolve as a series of uncontrolled cell divisions.

In order to receive signals, a cell’s outer surface displays antenna-like structures, known as receptors. Once a signal has arrived, it is passed on within the cell in a cascading chain of reactions, ultimately arriving at its final destination. That could be a transcription factor, whose function it is to turn on the proper genetic program within the cell’s nucleus. What’s really puzzling is that a large number of different signals are conveyed by means of a small number of potential molecules to do the job.

In a scientific paper published in today’s issue of "Developmental Cell" (Vol. 3, No. 6, 803-814), Dr. David Teis explains how this paradox can be solved. Teis, working in the group of Prof. Dr. Lukas Huber, found that the protein molecules involved in signalling have to join up in precisely defined ways. Identical sets of molecules, rearranging differently in space and time, can transmit a wealth of information leading to reactions such as differentiation, apoptosis (programmed cell death) or proliferation (subsequent cell divisions that can lead to cancer).

Working at the IMP, Boehringer Ingelheim’s basic research institute, David Teis was able to identify such a complex of molecules in a human tumour cell line. It consists of the proteins p14 and MP1, as well as two enzymes of the MAP-kinase family. This complex is located at a defined structure within the cell, the so-called endosome.

"Now we face the intriguing possibility of developing drugs that can suppress corrupted signals very specifically", Lukas Huber explains the medical relevance of the discovery. "Thus, we may be able to prevent tumour formation without interfering with other vital functions of the signalling pathway." Huber has recently moved from Vienna to the University of Innsbruck, where he followed a call to the chair of Histology and Molecular Cell Biology. He plans to further develop the potential of the new concept and investigate into therapeutic applications. A European patent has already been filed.