ST. LOUIS, Oct 25, 2004 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- High levels of a protein called LRP6 can make cancer cells more aggressive, Washington University researchers have discovered.

The protein's ability to enhance tumor development suggests that the gene that codes for LRP6 is an oncogene -- a gene that contributes to tumor development when over activated, according to the researchers affiliated with the Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis.

"Because no one has ever connected LRP6 to proliferation in tumors, we believe we may have identified a new oncogene," researcher Guojun Bu said in a statement. "In several types of human cancer, such as breast and colon cancer, a key cell signaling pathway that regulates cell growth and development is overactive because a gene coding for a pathway component has mutated."

"We believe LRP6 may be the missing link, the long-sought component that turns up the activity of this signaling pathway," Bu said.

Bu's team took slow-growing cancer cells and altered the LRP6 gene so that it made more of the protein and as a result, the cancer cells began proliferating more rapidly.

The findings, published in the Dec. 2 issue of the journal Oncogene, were available online Monday.

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