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Protein key to cell shape

A protein discovered by Carolina scientists appears to play a key role in determining the shape of cells and allowing them to move.

The newly identified protein, called palladin, is being explored for its influence on a number of biological processes, including the invasive spread of cancer, wound healing, brain development and the implantation of the embryo in the uterus.

"I think it may be critically involved in even more biological functions," said Carol A. Otey, assistant professor of cell and molecular physiology at the School of Medicine.

A report of the discovery, co-written by Mana M. Parast of the University of Virginia, was published in the Aug. 7 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology.

Otey said the new protein was named after Palladio, the influential 16th-century architect. Palladin appears to be quite involved in the architecture of cells, specifically via the actin cytoskeleton, a polymer protein complex that provides much of the basis for cell shape.

Otey's findings show that palladin belongs to a small group of cytoskeletal adhesion proteins that seem to provide molecular "glue" for maintaining cellular shape and for the attachment of cells to one another via their plasma membranes.

An exciting thing about palladin is its presence in different forms, different molecular weights. Otey noted that a heavier form of palladin is more highly present in metastatic cancer cells -- tumor cells that spread beyond their point of origin. "It is also this form of palladin we see highly expressed in the early placenta, which, of course, is an `invasive' organ," said Otey.

Still, exactly what the new protein does in normal cells and in cancer cells remains to be clarified further." In this first paper, we describe the discovery of this protein -- it's basically a birth announcement," Otey said. "All of the subsequent studies will be built on this. In the pipeline we have projects related to neuroscience, orthopedic research, developmental biology, including embryo implantation, and we're studying palladin in cancer metastasis.

"I think in the next couple of years we'll see results that are more specific to public health concerns."

This research is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health.

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