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Killer gene targets cancerous cells
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BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Scientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine have discovered a gene that, when working correctly, kills cancer cells. But when malfunctioning, it allows potentially lethal tumors to grow unchecked.
These findings will be published in the June 8 issue of Molecular Cell, after nearly three years of research.
The gene, called P53, protects cells from damage and is the body’s tumor-suppressant gene. It helps prevent cells from becoming cancerous, said Dr. Josh Mendell of Johns Hopkins, lead researcher and assistant professor in the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine.
Though the team initially studied colon cancer, Mendell said, its findings can be applied to other cancers.
His team first chemically damaged the DNA of two sets of colon cancer cells, one missing p53 and the other containing healthy p53. They then scanned for any of 500 known human RNA segments active only in cells containing p53. RNA are fragments of genetic code that produce proteins or accomplish other tasks.
One microRNA, called miR-34a, is turned on by p53, and usually kills cancer cells containing the snippet, according to the study.
When researchers turned their attention on pancreatic cancer cells with damaged or missing p53, they found that those cells also lacked the microRNA.
“With no p53 gene or miR-34a to stem tumor development, there’s no brake in pancreatic cells, and uncontrolled growth leads to cancer,” Anirban Maitra, professor of pathology, oncology and genetic medicine, said.
Mendell and his team are looking for missing miR-34a in other cancers. If the phenomenon is widespread, their work could lead to treatments attempting to restore the missing microRNA to cancer cells.
Currently, it is too premature to say whether the experiments will translate into therapy, Mendell said.
The “first step is [to continue] understanding how this works.”
Researcher Elizabeth Skalski contributed to this article.
eskalski@baltimoreexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
9:26 AM MST on Wed., Sep. 17, 2008 re: "Creatine could help in Parkinson’s fight"
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2:20 PM MST on Sun., Feb. 10, 2008
re: "Inmate gets drunk on hand sanitizer"
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6:48 PM MST on Wed., Aug. 8, 2007
re: "Inmate gets drunk on hand sanitizer"
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8:24 AM MST on Sun., Jun. 10, 2007
re: "Inmate gets drunk on hand sanitizer"
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Examiner Reader said:
I know how it works. Creatine ups ATP which inturn stops the hyperpolarizing of brain cells by leptin. MTGDGW
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Examiner Reader said:
Your alcohol facts are not quite straight. You mentioned Avant Hand Sanitizer- it has denatured alcohol. The denaturing process adds a bitter agent- it make sit taste horrible- definitely not a vodka type drink. That is why alcohol is denatured- to avoid abuse like this. It will likely make you vomit.
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Examiner Reader said:
Former Minneapolis Fire Chief: A First Responder in I-35W Bridge Collapse; Coordinates Helping Hand Contribution of Soapopular Hand Sanitizers For EMS Workers For Immediate Release Minneapolis, MN, Aug 8, 2007-- Former Minneapolis Fire Department Chief Bonnie Bleskachek, an embattled hero to many in the Minneapolis community, hasn't allowed recent personal controversy to stand in the way of helping Minnesota citizens in times of crisis. Since the August 1 catastrophe first occurred, Bleskachek has been working tirelessly by coordinating volunteer and emergency supply logistics, and she was the first to respond to an unsolicited call from a Connecticut company offering to contribute a shipment of Soapopular, a new, alcohol-free hand sanitizer, for emergency workers at the disaster scene.
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Examiner Reader said:
Hand-Sanitizer=Alcohol Poisoning.. As inane as the subject might seam, the exponential growth in the use of hand sanitizer products over the past few years has lead to an ever-increasing number of alcohol-poisoning instances--and too many within school/educational settings. Most recent report was two weeks ago in Hartford CT, where second grader, overloaded her hands from a Purell bottle on her teachers desk ,then licked it off--and was soon rushed to Yale University Hospital and diagnosed with alchohol poisoning. Thank goodness that some new manufacturers, including Soapopular--which offers a full line of Alcohol-FREE hand sanitizing products, are now getting retailers to put their products on their shelves. Soapopular, which is Canada's leading brand in the alcohol-free segment, made its debut last week here in the US.
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