Dr. Evette S. Radisky: Discovering How Protease Networks Drive Cancer—and How to Stop Them

With a background in protein biochemistry and structural biology, Evette S. Radisky, Ph.D., is dedicated to understanding how certain enzymes called proteases—and their natural “brakes”—influence cancer’s most dangerous behavior: metastasis.

How cancer spreads

Dr. Radisky’s research focuses on the role of proteases in cancer. These enzymes act like molecular “scissors,” cutting through cell connections and the tissue framework. This process helps cancer cells break away, invade nearby tissues, and travel to distant organs.

Normally, the body keeps these enzymes in check with natural inhibitors. But in cancer, this balance is often lost, leading to uncontrolled tissue breakdown and tumor spread.

The importance of studying protease networks

Dr. Radisky shares, “I’ve always been fascinated by proteases—nature’s molecular ‘scissors’ that turn cell signals on and off. In cancer, these enzymes don’t act alone; they work in interconnected networks that can help tumors invade, travel, and colonize new organs. Metastasis is what makes most cancers deadly, so understanding—and safely interrupting—these protease networks is both an intellectual challenge and a clinical imperative.”

One protease that especially caught her attention is mesotrypsin. “It’s unusual: it disables the body’s own protease ‘brakes,’ potentially supercharging many prometastatic enzymes at once,” Dr. Radisky explains.

What Is mesotrypsin inhibition

Mesotrypsin is an enzyme that helps cancers spread. Dr. Radisky describes, “We found it flips between an ‘on’ and an ‘off’ shape. In the off shape, a hidden pocket opens; by designing a small molecule that slips into this pocket like a key, we can lock mesotrypsin in the off position so it can’t fuel metastasis.”

How this research change cancer treatment

Dr. Radisky explains, “For a tumor to spread, a demolition crew of many proteases acts like bulldozers and wrecking balls—breaking down tissue and sending ‘go’ signals to cancer cells. In healthy tissues, natural inhibitors are the brakes that keep this machinery under control. Mesotrypsin causes chaos by cutting the brake lines. When we inhibit mesotrypsin with a drug, we restore the brakes across the protease network, preventing uncontrolled demolition and blocking the signals that enable metastasis.”

The importance of community understanding

“Even for lab-based work, community understanding matters. It builds trust in research and encourages participation in studies and tissue donation—both essential for creating patient-derived models that let us test new drugs early and safely,” Dr. Radisky says. “An informed community also helps set research priorities, supports fair access and representation in studies, and advocates for sustained investment so promising science can move from the bench to the bedside.”

Staying motivated in high-impact research

Progress in science is often slow, but Dr. Radisky finds motivation in each step. “Seeing a concept move from an enzyme snapshot to a molecule that switches it off, and then to early signs that it works in lab-grown tumor samples from patients and in animal models, is truly exciting to me. I’m also energized by trainees and collaborators whose creativity keeps us pushing forward. The possibility that this work could yield the first generation of truly antimetastatic, protease-targeted therapies keeps our team motivated.”

Dr. Radisky’s work brings hope for new ways to stop cancer from spreading—and shows the power of curiosity, teamwork, and community support in scientific discovery.

Community opportunities to advance science

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