The scientific article “Calcium levels modulate platelet function, platelet-cancer cell interaction, and cancer cell invasion,” led by researchers at GW Engineering’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, was recently published in Scientific Reports. The study investigates how calcium levels influence platelet function, their interactions with cancer cells, and the potential implications for cancer progression and treatment.
Here is an excerpt from the study abstract: “Our data demonstrates that calcium levels affect surface integrins, and receptors involved in platelet-cancer cell interactions. In addition, calcium levels significantly affect platelet activation and aggregation. In our experimental scenarios, calcium depletion modulates platelet-cancer cell interaction with MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, while hypercalcemic environments did not affect interaction. Meanwhile, hypercalcemia leads to enhanced cancer cell invasion for both MDA-MB-231 and A549 cells in the presence of platelets. Thus, this study provides a greater understanding of the dynamics associated with the effects of calcium and platelet-cancer cell interactions mediated by integrins.”
Read the full study on Scientific Reports.