Wroc?aw scientists are investigating the role of an important protein in melanoma cells and melanocytes

Source: Science in Poland, March 2019

As part of a grant from the Sonata Bis competition financed by the National Science Centre, the biochemist from the Department of Cell Pathology at the University of Wroc?aw focuses on the role of gelsolin in the migration and adhesion of normal cells, including melanocytes and Schwann cells, as well as the role of this protein in cancer cells, primarily melanoma.

Gelsolin is an actin-binding protein present in cells. Actin is responsible for the shape of the cell and its ability to move.

In order for the cell to move in the body, it must first and foremost engage the actin cytoskeleton, explains the biochemist from the Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Wroc?aw. “The way this usually happens is that under the influence of appropriate signals, actin – which occurs in the cell in the form of a monomer, a single molecule – is able to polymerize, create long chains. This process is very strictly controlled and there are over 200 proteins, which directly interact with actin. One of them is gelsolin, which regulates the actin polymerization process" – explains Dr. Mazur.