Milestone discovery in cell behaviours

Scientists are interested in ADAM10 -- and the proteins that are split by this protease -- because it is critical in cellular mechanisms that underlie several major diseases.



"This communication process between cells forms the basis for the way in which certain diseases progress. This discovery will change how we understand cell behaviour and change how we consider the design of therapeutic drugs in this area" Associate Professor Lackmann said.



"This new concept in understanding of how cells communicate identifies a process that is much simpler than previously thought and which will profoundly impact the direction of future biomedical research in this area," he said.


"The research team found that instead of using complex signalling pathways, this communication system is really very direct and simple. In this case it is a transient switch in the overall shape of the contending cell surface receptor itself which activates the ADAM10 protease to communicate this change and its functional consequences to a neighbouring cell.

"The discovery of this switch opens new avenues for the development of drugs that recognise this changed shape and prevent the signalling to other cells, thus slowing or even halting the spread of disease.