Melanomas Are "Born to Run”

SLUG is a leftover from the neural crest developmental stage when primal melanocytes are formed. Cells with active SLUG are readily able to spread throughout the body.

When melanoma cells were genetically engineered to lack SLUG activity, they were unable to metastasize after being transplanted into susceptible mice. Detailed findings were published in September 4, 2005, online edition of Nature Genetics.
"Other cancers need to learn how to spread, but not melanoma,” said senior author Dr. Robert Weinberg, professor of biology at MIT. "Now, for the first time, we understand the genetic mechanism responsible for this.”



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Massachusetts Institute of Technology