Professor Maddy Parsons, Randall Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics, King’s College London
Tuesday 17th May, 1.00 p.m., Stacey Lecture Theatre 1
Fascin is an actin-binding and bundling protein that is highly upregulated in most epithelial cancers and strongly correlates with poor patient prognosis. Efficient cell migration in vitro and tumour cell metastasis in vivo requires fascin, but the underlying mechanisms that regulate fascin within these contexts remain unclear. Our recent data demonstrates that fascin acts as a key protein in mediating force transduction and sensing at the nuclear envelope and in doing so controls nuclear shape changes that are required for cell invasion through complex microenvironments. These findings shed light on a novel role for fascin and provide potential new targets for therapeutic intervention in disease.