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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

microvesicles, enzyme phospholipase A2, PLA2, cancer

College

Life Sciences

Department

Physiology and Developmental Biology

Abstract

Microvesicles are small membrane-bound spheres released from certain cells undergoing the decay process. Little is known today about their properties and function at the cellular level. It is hypothesized that microvesicles play a role in cancer metastasis through the action of metalloproteinases enclosed within these spheres. Metalloproteinases are enzymes that act to break up the extracellular matrix of cells. This matrix serves as a type of glue that holds groups of cells together. Without this extracellular matrix in place cells are allowed to break free and migrate to other places of the body. In the case of cancerous cells this process is called metastasis. It is thought that these metallo-proteinases can be released from microvesicles when their membranes are broken apart by another enzyme called phospholipase A2. At this point it is not known, however, by what means microvesicle membranes are susceptible to this enzyme. The intent of this present research is to study some basic properties of microvesicles in order to better understand the mechanism by which phospholipase A2 breaks apart their phospholipid bilayer membrane. The following properties will be examined: membrane fluidity, protein content, membrane orientation, and lipid content.

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