Understanding the molecular events that underlie metastasis is a major goal of cancer research. In line with the involvement of the cytoskeleton in cell motility and invasion, the Ena/VASP family of actin-regulatory proteins is implicated in metastasis; for example, Mena is upregulated in several human cancers. To investigate the potential role of this protein family in metastasis, Tucker et al. address how Ena, the Drosophila homologue of Mena, influences the migration of embryonic macrophages (haemocytes) in the fly embryo. In contrast to reported observations of mammalian fibroblasts in vitro, Ena overexpression increases macrophage migration speed in vivo.
© 2011. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd
2011
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