Membrane transporters are proteins used to maintain the concentration gradients of various chemicals between the exterior and interior of a cell. The gradients of these chemicals are then generally used for processes like maintaining cell size (osmotic regulation), and are also signalling molecules for processes like cell migration and division.

In their new publication in Nature Communications, researchers from Dr Ben Halls group show for the first time that alterations in the expression of these membrane transporters consistently occurs in all cancers. Going further, the researchers were able to construct a computational model of the key chemical gradients and transporters within a cell, and show precisely how changes in the expression of them can alter cancer cell behaviour. The research is a start at understanding how these proteins can be used as potential markers or drug targets in the future.

Exploring the role of stromal osmoregulation in cancer and disease using executable modelling.  

The study entitled Exploring the role of stromal osmoregulation in cancer and disease using executable modelling by  David Shorthouse et al. has been published in Nature Communications volume 9, Article number: 3011 (2018) on 01 August, 2018.