Animal Study Revealed Three-some Signaling Pathway Linked to Skin Cancer Tumor Development
As we age, the genetic mutations in our cells accumulate. Cancerous tumors or carcinomas are linked to alterations of certain key genes better known as tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes.
When oncogenes are overexpressed, complex cellular signaling pathways are disrupted, leading to the development of tumors.
But most oncogenes are also players in various essential roles for normal cell functions and so making it extremely difficult to pinpoint the interplay of genetic and cellular events that goes wrong when a cell becomes cancerous.
Researchers from the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC) and EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne), in a study of skin cancer in mice, were able to identify a three-way signaling pathway directly involved in tumor development.
The said research, recently reported in the August 1, 2006 issue of Genes and Development, pinpoints a process that can potentially be manipulated to inhibit the growth of existing carcinomas.
According to Professor Andreas Trumpp and PhD student Thordur Oskarsson, lead authors of the study:
“This work is in vivo proof-of-concept of a key pathway in epithelial tumors. The gene that is truly critical and protects the cells from oncogenic activity is p21. Inhibiting the c-myc pathway was always thought to be unreasonable because this gene is thought to be implicated in so many cellular functions. However, this might prove to be promising avenue for treating existing carcinomas, because it would only affect tumors and not normal skin cells.”
Read the full report at EurekAlert.
For more genetics perspective, you can visit B5media’s Genetics and Health blog.
Tags: oncogenes, skin-cancer, tumor-supressor-genesRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Skin cancer
1 opinion for Animal Study Revealed Three-some Signaling Pathway Linked to Skin Cancer Tumor Development
jonny
Sep 10, 2006 at 9:54 pm
jonny
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: