Molecule thought to indicate cancer prognosis may have dark side, research shows -
A molecule that during the last 20 years was supposed to be a good prognostic indicator in tumors has been shown to have a dark side by new research from the universities of Manchester, Athens and collaborators, published recently in Nature Cell Biology .
The molecule p21WAF1 / Cip1 (p21 or for short) is often found in combination with a so-called "master tumor suppressor" p53. That gave doctors traditionally an indication that there is a good prognosis for cancer -. The presence of p21 indicating that the p53 tumor suppressor will lead to a less aggressive tumor
However, the new study presented evidence that turns this assumption on its head. Scientists from the University of Manchester, part of the Manchester Cancer Research Centre, together with international collaborators, especially at the University of Athens, has shown that in tumors where p53 molecule is deficient, p21 dramatically increases ability of tumors to grow and spread in the body
Professor Paul Townsend, one of the lead authors and lead author, Professor Vassilis Gorgoulis, honorary professor at Manchester, and the teacher- Director, University of Athens, said :. "There are years being exposed to much sun was thought to be one of the best ways to be healthy before we realized the harmful effects of too much could have.
"This protein has a similar effect. When the wild type p53 activity is lost, the excess of p21 production was far from good. This protein was previously thought benign turns out to have a dark side. "
The results are the result of five years' study in p21, originally, to develop treatments that increase its presence and Supress tumors. While conducting this investigation, international research team noted that in the p53 deficient tumors increased p21 was done correlate aggressive behavior. this led them to suspect a different opportunity of how the molecule worked in tumors.
in reality, p21works by deregulate DNA replication machinery and trigger what is called replication stress. this causes genomic instability, a key characteristic of cancer.
new findings open the possibility of treatment being developed that against p21, an avenue of research that has not been explored before
teachers Townsend added: ". We now know that p21, p53 triggered when control is a factor in the appearance of danger signs of replicating cells found in aggressive tumors. Although it goes against what we have known to date, it offers the hope of developing new treatments for cancer in the years to come. "
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