A study published in Nature's Scientific Reports by Case CCC Molecular Oncology Program members Edward Plow, PhD, and Khalid Sossey-Alaoui, PhD, suggests that Kindlin-2 should be closely examined as a therapeutic target for prostate cancer treatment.
Titled Role of Kindlin 2 in prostate cancer, the findings posit that, because Kindlin-2 is highly expressed in many cancers and is particularly prominent in prostate cancer cells, the dramatic effect of K2KO in PC3 cells on tumor growth in the prostate in mice is likely to be a major contributing factor to the overall inhibition of tumor growth.
Sossey-Alaoui and Plow indicate that their findings are consistent with the effect of K2KO in breast tumor development and on the effects of K2 reduction on a mouse prostate tumor (RM1) growth and vascularization implanted into Matrigel plugs in mice as well as other models of vascular permeability and angiogenesis, suggesting that reduction of K2 levels might be considered as a potential therapeutic target for prostate as well as other cancers.
Other Case CCC members contributing to this multi-institutional consortium study are Developmental Therapeutics Program member Daniel Lindner, MD, PhD, and Trainee Associate Members Lamyae El Khalki, PhD, and Wei Wang, PhD.