Science Daily, June 29, 2007
A research team including University of Central Florida Microbiology Professor Keith Ireton is using the bacterial pathogen Listeria Monocytogenes to understand the mechanisms of cell growth and cancer development. In research published this month in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the team found that a Listeria protein called InlB induces internalization and degradation of a human receptor known as Met. Met has been implicated in the development of cancers. Lisa A. Elferink at the University of Texas Medical Branch led the team.
She and Ireton found that the ability of InlB to induce Met internalization and degradation requires a human protein called Cbl. If scientists could figure out how to control Cbl, such knowledge might lead to the development of drugs that induce the destruction of Met and are useful in treating Met-related cancers.