Kevin Roarty Lab

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About the Lab

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The Roarty Laboratory investigates the molecular mechanisms regulating the cellular makeup within tumors and how cell populations communicate during breast cancer progression. Our work spans the spectrum of cell, developmental, and cancer biology. We study how spatiotemporal cues coordinate the identity and multicellular movement of epithelial cells during morphogenesis within the normal breast, and how developmental signals, often co-opted during cancer progression, direct the invasion and spread of tumor cells to distant organs during breast cancer metastasis. Although cell neighbors exchange a multitude of signals to guide ductal morphogenesis in development or cellular dissemination, transit, and colonization in breast cancer metastasis, the exact identity and mechanistic insight behind these exchanges are unclear. We hope to provide a better understanding of how cell neighbors in these contexts collaborate to achieve their biological goals.

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Image of the Month: November 2022

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Breast Cancer Organoid
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Image credit: Kevin Roarty and Hongjiang Si.
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Human breast cancer organoid in a collagen-based 3D matrix

The cancer cells (magenta) lack the noncanonical Wnt receptor, Ror2. The protein fibronectin (orange) is up-regulated and assembled by Ror2-deficient tumor cells, triggering the invasion, dissemination and survival of cancer cells during metastatic transit. Nuclei are depicted in gray. The image was captured on the lab's Zeiss LSM 880 with Airyscan FAST Confocal Microscope.

Each month the Baylor College of Medicine blog, From the Labs, features an image from our labs and cores. For the month of November 2022, the Roarty Lab's image was published in the blog.

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