ALK7 Erects a Suppressive Barrier to Tumor Progression and Metastasis

Overcoming intrinsic and extrinsic tumor-suppressive barriers is an essential feature of tumor progression. In this issue of Developmental Cell, Michael et al. (2019) Michael I.P. Saghafini S. Tichet M. Zangger N. Ilaria Marinoni I. Perren A. Hanahan D. ALK7 signaling manifests a homeostatic tissue barrier that is abrogated during tumorigenesis and metastasis. Dev. Cell. 2019; 49 ( this issue) : 409-424 Google Scholar use the RIP-Tag mouse model to show that pro-apoptotic signals mediated by the Activin B-ALK7 axis suppress ectopic proliferation and metastasis during pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer development