Sep. 24, 2012 Death plays a big role in keeping things alive.
Consider the tightly orchestrated suicide of cells -- a
phenomenon essential to everything from shaping an embryo to
keeping it free of cancer later in life. When cells refuse to
die, and instead multiply uncontrollably, they become what we
call tumors. An intricate circuitry of biochemical reactions
inside cells coordinates their self-sacrifice. Tracing that
circuitry is, naturally, an important part of cancer research.
In a major contribution to that effort Dr. Ingvar Ferby, a
Ludwig researcher based at Uppsala University in Sweden, led a
team of researchers who have determined the outsize role a small
protein named Mig6 plays in such processes. Their findings,
reported online in the September 11 issue of Developmental Cell,
unveil a conceptually novel mechanism for the biological
regulation of cell suicide. The studies focus on epithelial
tissue in the mammary glands of mice. Though diverse in
function, such epithelial linings -- found on the su