Physiology Commons^™

Utilization Of The Tgf-Β Signaling Pathway And Cell-Substrate Interaction In A Novel Anti-Cancer Drug Screen, Nicholas Saguibo, Dr. Marc Hansen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The TGF-β signaling pathway has been researched extensively over the past few years, and has been shown to be active in the majority of metastatic tumors. Interestingly, tumors expressing TGF-β activity are positively correlated with poorer prognosis in patients, making it a logical target for cancer therapeutics. Furthermore, research conducted in our lab in recent years has demonstrated that the stiffness of the substrate upon which metastatic cancer cells are adhered plays a significant role in the rate of metastasis. To summarize: the harder the substrate, the higher the rate of metastasis. This same research has also demonstrated that softer, …