{"334661":{"#nid":"334661","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Researchers Discover New Tri-Molecular Complex","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA group of Georgia Tech researchers has discovered a new type of molecular interaction that could have important implications in preventing the spread of tumors and cancerous cells.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWorking within Georgia Tech\u2019s Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, the researchers found a unique trimolecular relationship between Thy-1, a lipid tether protein; \u03b15\u03b21, a transmembrane receptor; and Syn-4, another protein.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen Thy-1 bonds with \u03b15\u03b21, they form what\u2019s known as a slip bond, which is easily broken apart when force is applied. The same thing happens between Thy-1 and Syn-4,\u201d said Dr. Thomas Barker, one of the lead authors. \u201cBut what we observed is that when all three molecules come together, they form what we call a catch bond. Instead of breaking apart when force is applied, a catch bond becomes stronger, almost like a finger trap.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0027The findings from Barker, Vincent Fiore, Lining Ju, Yunfeng Chen, and Dr. Cheng Zhu appear in the journal Nature Communications.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research that led to the findings began as a weekend project sparked by one graduate student\u2019s curiosity \u2014 a chance observation that turned into a full-scale research project.\u0027\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOne of my classmates and I set off to try to understand how integrin receptors bind Thy-1 on a cell\u2019s surface,\u201d said Fiore, student researcher in Barker\u2019s lab. \u201cWhat we observed was this new receptor of Thy-1, and a new type of interaction neither of us had seen before.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe group\u2019s findings have implications for stopping the spread of cancerous tumors and healing persistent wounds, Barker said. Thy-1is a so-called \u201crecruitment protein.\u201d From its position on the outside of a cell, Thy-1 can \u201ccapture\u201d other proteins that are flowing through the bloodstream. When a doctor removes a tumor, for example, the tumor itself is gone, but cancerous cells may still be present in the bloodstream. These findings demonstrate the potential to disrupt the interaction between an endothelial protein and the circulating tumor cell receptor that causes tumor metastasis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese findings could have implications for physicians treating unhealing wounds,\u201d Barker said. \u201cThis understanding could be used to engineer stem cells to actively home to the unhealing region by injecting stem cells into the blood stream.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo read the full findings in Nature Communications, click \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nature.com\/ncomms\/2014\/140912\/ncomms5886\/full\/ncomms5886.html\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E--Written by Chris Calleri\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A group of Georgia Tech researchers has discovered a new type of molecular interaction that could have important implications in preventing the spread of tumors and cancerous cells."}],"uid":"27863","created_gmt":"2014-10-16 11:05:26","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:19","author":"Christa Ernst","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-10-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-10-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"334651":{"id":"334651","type":"image","title":"Thomas Barker and Lab Team","body":null,"created":"1449245150","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:05:50","changed":"1475895046","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:46","alt":"Thomas Barker and Lab Team","file":{"fid":"201845","name":"barker_lab.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/barker_lab_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/barker_lab_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":43498,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/barker_lab_0.jpg?itok=7JNBcAGP"}}},"media_ids":["334651"],"groups":[{"id":"1271","name":"NanoTECH"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"280","name":"Cancer research"},{"id":"65281","name":"College of Engineering; Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University"},{"id":"106651","name":"molecular interactions"},{"id":"14574","name":"Thomas Barker"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}