Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
(Salt Lake City-AP) -- Researchers at the Huntsman Cancer Institute say they have identified an enzyme that allows the cells in a developing organism to communicate.
Scientists have long known that as a fish or a frog or a human grows, the developing cells somehow communicate with one another.
But exactly how they do it was a mystery.
Huntsman researchers, studying frogs in the laboratory, now say it is the enzyme P-K-C gamma that allows cells to send signals to neighboring cells.
The discovery, which was published in the journal "Cell", could help cancer researchers.
Joseph Yost, lead author on the new study, says based on the findings, future researchers could figure out a way to control the cells' communication.
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
