The role of extracellular NM23

Research concept

NM23-H1 (non-metastatic clone 23, isoform H1) was the first identified metastasis inhibitor. Recently it was shown that in patients with breast carcinoma, NM23-H1 protein is secreted into the serum.

In case of hematological malignancies (e. g. acute myeloid leukemia) high serum NM23-H1 level correlates with bad prognosis. We intend to understand the mechanism by which NM23 is secreted into the extracellular environment and determine the role of extracellular NM23. As a model, we established invasive breast carcinoma MDA-MB231T cells transfected by FLAG::NM23-H1, MYC::NM23-H2. Extracellular vesicular fractions are isolated from conditioned media of these cell lines and tested for the presence of the NM23 homologs by flow cytometry and Western blotting. Next, we investigate when tumor cells release NM23 into the extracellular environment during tumor progression. As NM23 is a potential candidate for serum metastasis biomarker, our experiments might help its application in the future clinical usage.

We possess a serum collection derived from patients with colorectal carcinoma (CRC). We examine Nm23-H1 levels in these serum samples using sandwich ELISA (Enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay) technique. Our main aim is to understand whether NM23-H1 level in this tumour type correlates with the presence of metastasis.

Research services

• ELISA and Western blot techniques

Human resources

• Krisztina Vellainé Takács, associate professor
• Barbara Mátyási, PhD Student

Laboratories, rooms

Standard laboratory, ELTE Faculty of Science, Room 4-226.

Equipments

Bio-Rad iMark^TM Microplate Reader

Recent publications of the research group