Tag Archives: hdac

Surprising role of gene regulator protein in development of skin tumors

Skin tumors — when healing of scratches and cuts goes wrong The skin is the largest organ of the human body, protecting us from dehydration and external impacts. It’s a self-renewing tissue, meaning that if we hurt ourselves for example by scraping or cutting our skin, new skin cells will replace the old damaged ones and our wound will heal. On a molecular level this process is controlled by a wide range of factors, ensuring that the right number of undifferentiated progenitor cells differentiate into skin cells and make their way to replace the old damaged ones. If something goes wrong during this process, pathologies, including skin tumors, can be the consequence…

Breakthrough discovery into the regulation of a key cancer drug target

Scientists used a powerful technique called protein crystallography to look at 3D structures of protein complexes purified from cultured human cells. They discovered that a family of complexes, that switch off gene expression, is regulated by small signalling molecules called inositol phosphates. This latest study shows that this mode of regulation is conserved from yeast right through to man and is a fundamental process for life…