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Published on: 5/2/2003
Last Visited: 5/6/2003
"Since merlin is a tumor suppressor whose loss of function leads to tumor development, it is absolutely critical to define what happens when this function is lost," says Andrea McClatchey, PhD, of the MGH Cancer Center, the senior author of the current report."Our objective was to define the primary cellular and molecular consequences of that loss of function."
McClatchey and her colleagues had previously developed a strain of mice genetically engineered to lack normal Nf2 genes.
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"Our study suggests that, through its link to the cellular cytoskeleton, merlin normally organizes the structure that facilitates cell-to-cell communication - the adherens junction," says McClatchey, who is an assistant professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School.
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"Given that loss of adherens junctions has been linked to both tumor initiation and tumor metastasis," says McClatchey, "loss of NF2 may be an example of an event that both starts a tumor and confers metastatic potential."