One of the hopes for victory against cancer hinges on naturally-occurring proteins whose job is to make their host cell die.
Since their natural role is to stop unhealthy cell proliferation, the idea is that one or more of these proteins could be harnessed to stop the growth of tumors.
Brigham Young University scientists recently stumbled onto one potential tumor suppressor with an especially ominous name: Programmed Cell Death Protein 5 (aka PDCD5). What they found opens a new avenue for cancer researchers; in fact, the Journal of Biological Chemistry recognizes the work as their research paper of the week.
Programmed cell death and serendipity
It’s tricky to find how and where potential tumor-suppressing proteins do their work inside live cells. Although other labs actively hunted for PDCD5’s cellular workplace, the researchers who actually found it weren’t looking for it at all.
BYU chemist Barry Willardson and his team study totally different proteins called molecular chaperones, which help other proteins to fold into their proper shape.
But proteins are like teenagers in a sense: You can learn a lot by noticing who they hang out with. So the Willardson group went in search of the chaperone’s buddies.
“It’s a great type of experiment because it tells you things that you may not have considered,” Willardson said.
So when they spotted PDCD5 hooking up with their protein, they wondered if its tumor suppressor ability was linked to the chaperone.
To get a closer look at the pairing, the BYU team collaborated with scientists in Madrid who operate a cryo-electron microscope in Spain’s National Center of Biotechnology. Their images showed how the mysterious Programmed Cell Death Protein 5 could block the production of tubulin, the material that cells use as scaffolding during cell division.
What this means for cancer research
Hundreds of proteins have been targeted for their potential to suppress tumors. This study identifies how one of those proteins may keep the growth of healthy cells in check.
“We’ve provided information on how this protein functions, and it needs to remain functional to be a tumor suppressor,” Willardson said. “It really is just a first step, but it gives us a direction we want to follow.”
This work was a collaboration between Willardson’s lab, BYU biochemistry professor John Prince’s lab and the group in Madrid. Six current and former BYU students also co-authored the study.
Joe Hadfield | EurekAlert!
Immune Defense Without Collateral Damage
23.01.2017 | Universität Basel
The interactome of infected neural cells reveals new therapeutic targets for Zika
23.01.2017 | D'Or Institute for Research and Education
For the first time ever, a cloud of ultra-cold atoms has been successfully created in space on board of a sounding rocket. The MAIUS mission demonstrates that quantum optical sensors can be operated even in harsh environments like space – a prerequi-site for finding answers to the most challenging questions of fundamental physics and an important innovation driver for everyday applications.
According to Albert Einstein's Equivalence Principle, all bodies are accelerated at the same rate by the Earth's gravity, regardless of their properties. This...
An important step towards a completely new experimental access to quantum physics has been made at University of Konstanz. The team of scientists headed by...
Yersiniae cause severe intestinal infections. Studies using Yersinia pseudotuberculosis as a model organism aim to elucidate the infection mechanisms of these...
Researchers from the University of Hamburg in Germany, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Aarhus in Denmark, have synthesized a new superconducting material by growing a few layers of an antiferromagnetic transition-metal chalcogenide on a bismuth-based topological insulator, both being non-superconducting materials.
While superconductivity and magnetism are generally believed to be mutually exclusive, surprisingly, in this new material, superconducting correlations...
Laser-driving of semimetals allows creating novel quasiparticle states within condensed matter systems and switching between different states on ultrafast time scales
Studying properties of fundamental particles in condensed matter systems is a promising approach to quantum field theory. Quasiparticles offer the opportunity...
19.01.2017 | Event News
10.01.2017 | Event News
09.01.2017 | Event News
23.01.2017 | Health and Medicine
23.01.2017 | Physics and Astronomy
23.01.2017 | Process Engineering