Any thoughts on the effect on ISIP's approach, If any?
06:15 PM ET 08/12/98
Link between cancer and DNA damage found by Canadians
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Some cancers could be caused by
a cell's inability to produce a tumor-suppressing protein after
the cell's DNA has been damaged, according to research released
by Canadian scientists Wednesday.
Scientists have known for some time that normal cells
activate a tumor-suppressing protein called p53 when their DNA
has been damaged.
However, inexplicably, some damaged DNA cells fail to
activate the p53 protein, which can potentially lead to
uncontrolled cell growth and, then, cancer.
Scientists were missing the link between the cell damage and
when the p53 springs into action. That link turns out to be a
protein called DNA-PK.
''We didn't know who told p53 to do its work,'' Patrick Lee,
a professor of cancer biology at the University of Calgary who
led the research, told Reuters. ''Now we understand that DNA-PK
is the messenger that tells p53 to go into action.''
Lee's team of researchers discovered that damaged DNA
activates the DNA-PK protein, which then triggers p53. In cells
where DNA-PK is absent or defective, p53 can't be activated,
which can lead to cancerous cell growth.
A genetic defect could be responsible for the defectiveness
or outright absence of DNA-PK. It could therefore be possible to
test individuals for such a defect and, eventually, fix it
through gene therapy.
The importance of the discovery is really twofold, as it
shows that both p53 and DNA-PK must work properly to protect
cells whose DNA has been damaged. If one of the two is
defective, the damaged cell may become cancerous.
In animals, a defect in DNA-PK has been associated with
lymphomas.
The study leading to this discovery will be published
Thursday in the journal Nature.
^REUTERS@ |
