Tumor cells : a single signal to divide and conquer?

Metastatic tumor cells are dangerous because they not only proliferate but also migrate and invade other tissues. On page 817, Manes et al. reach the surprising conclusion that the cyclin- dependent kinase cdc2 regulates both of these activities. The work identifies a novel signaling pathway and points to a promising new strategy for targeting metastatic cells, but it may also force a reevaluation of some current drug development efforts.

Cdc2 is well known as a cell cycle regulator, but previous work had shown that it also phosphorylates multiple cytoskeletal proteins. In the new work, the authors found that αvβ3 integrin expression in a prostate cancer cell line increases cdc2 mRNA and protein levels and leads to an increase in cdc2 kinase activity. Using cyclin B2 as a cofactor, cdc2 acts in ruffles to...