Tag Archives: protein

New genetic target for a different kind of cancer drug found

“Historically, scientists haven’t targeted the proteins in cancer cells that are involved in gene splicing,” said Zefeng Wang, PhD, associate professor in the department of pharmacology and senior author of the Cancer Cell paper. “This is a whole new ballgame in terms of gene regulation in cancer.” There are approximately 25,000 genes in the human genome — the same amount as in a fruit fly. But in humans, these genes are spliced together in different ways to create various kinds of messenger RNA to produce the many different proteins humans require…

‘K-to-M’ Histone Mutations: How Repressing Repressors May Drive Tissue-Specific Cancers

In 2012, investigators from multiple research institutions studying the sequence of the genome from cancer patients rocked the “chromatin world” when they independently reported that mutations in the gene that encodes histone H3.3 occurred in aggressive pediatric brain tumors. This finding was stunning, as researchers had never before associated histone mutations with any disease, much less a deadly tumor…

Leukemia drug shows promise for skin, breast and other cancers — ScienceDaily

Dasatinib fights leukemia by checking the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells. But when used against other cancer cells, researchers found, the drug employs a different strategy: It causes the cells to clump together, thus preventing them from migrating. Without the ability to migrate, cancer cells cannot metastasize (spread to other parts of the body)…

Myc inhibition an effective therapeutic strategy against most aggressive brain tumors

In a study published last year, the group succeded in eradicating lung tumors in transgenic mice by adopting the same strategy involving the expression of Omomyc, a Myc inhibitor designed by Soucek. They also confirmed that there were no side effects post-administration of repeated and long-term treatment. Importantly, there was no evidence of resistance to therapy — one of the greatest challenges in the treatment of cancer. …

Immune cell discovery could help halt cancer spread

These natural killer cells could be harnessed to hunt down and kill cancers that have spread in the body. The team, from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, also found natural killer cells were critical to the body’s rejection of donor bone marrow transplants and in the runaway immune response during toxic shock syndrome. The discoveries came after the team showed that a protein called MCL-1 was crucial for survival of natural killer cells, in research published today in the journal Nature Communications. The discovery will help to determine how natural killer cells can be manipulated to fight cancers and other disorders…

New ways to treat solid tumors using protein

As EphA3 is present in normal organs only during embryonic development but is expressed in blood cancers and in solid tumors, this antibody-based approach may be a suitable candidate treatment for solid tumors. The researchers from Monash University and Ludwig Cancer Research, in Australia, and KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, in the US, have had their findings published in the journal Cancer Research…

Cell plasticity may provide clues to origin of aggressive type of breast cancer

A team of researchers, led by Candice A.M. Sauder, M.D., while a resident at the Indiana University Department of Surgery, reported online in BMC Cell Biology that healthy breast cells separated from their normal environment were able to transform into types of cells similar to those seen in metaplastic carcinoma, a form of triple negative breast cancer. …

Protein ZEB1 promotes breast tumor resistance to radiation therapy — ScienceDaily

One protein with the even more out-there name of ZEB1 (zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1), is now thought to keep breast cancer cells from being successfully treated with radiation therapy, according to a study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. …