Cancer: Discovery of the major role of the skeleton of cells

All cells have a skeleton that allows them to move and maintain their shape. But researchers have just shown that a part of this cytoskeleton, called "branched fibers", is also essential for the proliferation * of cells: these fibers inform cells about the space available around them and about the chemical messengers in the body.environment and therefore the opportunity to proliferate. If the required conditions are not met, these fibers are not synthesized and the cell does not divide. Except in the case of cancer cells that get rid of this control mechanism and proliferate where and when they should not. This mechanism could nevertheless offer a therapeutic target to fight against certain cancers. Blocking the formation of branched fibers makes it possible to stop the growth of melanoma cells for which no other specific treatment has existed to date. This work, led by an international team of researchers from the Molecular Bases and Regulation of Protein Biosynthesis (CNRS /