Intracellular and extracellular promoters of metastasis to different organs

Metastasis is the cause of the vast majority of cancer-related deaths, yet much remains unknown about this complex process, from how tumor cells complete the many steps of the metastatic cascade to how they can adapt to survive in multiple, vastly different secondary sites. I have therefore conducted two studies into different aspects of metastasis. First, I investigated the scaffold protein IQGAP1, which promotes primary tumor growth and invasiveness in several cancers. However, the role of IQGAP1 in metastasis has been unclear. We used IQGAP1 knockdown and knockout to investigate its role in the metastatic cascade in melanoma and breast cancer. I found that reduction of IQGAP1 expression inhibited the formation of metastases, without limiting primary or metastatic tumor growth. Furthermore, IQGAP1 knockout significantly decreased extravasation of tumor cells from circulation.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctoral

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Hebert, Jess Dale.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Richard O. Hynes.

• Biology.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122064

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/122064