‘Scissor sisters: regulation of ADAM10 by the TspanC8 tetraspanins’ – the Mike Tomlinson lab’s review makes the cover of Biochemical Society Transactions

The ‘molecular scissor’ ADAM10 (displayed in orange) regulates cell function by cleaving a variety of substrates (displayed in green) from the cell surface.  ADAM10 is critical for development and is a potential drug target for diseases such as cancer, heart attack, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and asthma.  The Tomlinson group have shown that ADAM10 substrate specificity is regulated by interaction with one of six tetraspanins termed the TspanC8s (displayed in white or blue).  In their review article, the Tomlinson group propose that ADAM10 should not be regarded as one scissor, but as six different scissors.  This has implications for drug targetting, since targetting specific tetraspanins might be used to treat diseases without the toxicity that would result from targetting ADAM10 on every cell in the body.

The cover artwork was designed by graduate student Justyna Szyroka in the Tomlinson lab.

Find out more

Read the review article here: http://www.biochemsoctrans.org/content/45/3/719