A new role for GABA: inhibition of tumor cell migration.

GABA, the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the vertebrate brain, participates outside the CNS in diverse functions such as platelet aggregation and the acrosomal reaction in spermatozoa. A recent study now demonstrates that GABA inhibits the migration of colon carcinoma cells, paving the way to the development of specific pharmacological agents that delay or inhibit invasion and metastasis of various cancer types.