Despite decades of advances in the way we understand, diagnose and treat cancer, a cancer diagnosis is one of uncertainty. Not all cancers behave in the same way or respond in the same way to treatment, leaving patients without assurances that the treatments that they endure will work, all while suffering through debilitating and potentially lifelong side-effects. Improvements in cancer treatments will depend on our ability to accurately predict which treatments will work most effectively in which patients.
Far from being a benign structural entity, the cell skeleton, or cytoskeleton, has now emerged as an important determinant of cancer’s aggression, making it a target for the next generation of specific anticancer treatments.
No Bones About It, Cells Have Skeletons Too
Unlike the bones that make up our body’s skeleton, the cytoskeleton is made up of a mesh of protein filaments that span the crowded interior of the cell. These filaments are composed of different types of proteins arranged like beads on a string. These form an elaborate interconnected network that holds the shape of the cell and helps cells move around.
Microtubules are one of the main types of filaments that form this cytoskeletal network. Although these microtubule fibres play a fundamental role in the processes that keep cells alive and functioning, they are also emerging...
