Prof Inke Näthke

Cell and Developmental Biology
University of Dundee
Dundee

The role of APC in bowel cancer

Professor Inke Näthke, based at the University of Dundee, is investigating a gene called APC, which is faulty in many cases of bowel cancer. Professor Näthke is particularly interested in the role of APC in cell movement and cell division because these important processes are disrupted in cancer cells.

APC is a type of gene known as a tumour suppressor, and it is faulty in up to 80 per cent of bowel cancer cases. Inherited APC mutations can also cause the condition Familial Adenomatous Polyposis, or FAP, which makes people more susceptible to bowel cancer.

The APC protein, produced from this gene, has many important roles within the cell. To carry out many of its tasks, APC needs to bind to the cell's 'cytoskeleton' - a collection of scaffolding proteins that give the cell shape and structure.

Professor Näthke is using a variety of lab techniques to study how APC works together with different parts of the cytoskeleton to control how cells divide and move. Through sophisticated imaging methods, she aims to build up a picture of exactly how APC functions in the cell.

Her team is also looking in more detail at how APC binds to the 'machinery' that controls separation of the chromosomes during cell division. If this process goes wrong, some cells end up with extra copies of genes whilst other cells may lose copies of critical genes. This can rapidly lead to cancer formation.

Faults in the APC gene occur very early on during bowel cancer development . Professor Näthke's research focusing on APC in cell division will help to unravel how these mutations disrupt chromosome separation and contribute to the early stages of cancer. This work may ultimately lead to the development of new treatments for bowel cancer.