Understanding of How Cells Turn Cancerous Advances at UCR

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have uncovered a key step in how healthy cells protect themselves from mutating into cancerous tumor cells.

A research team, led by Professor of Biochemistry Xuan Liu, showed how proteins in the nucleus of cells, PTEN and p53, interact to prevent a cell that has suffered DNA damage from mutating into a cancerous tumor.

Liu, who has been studying the workings of tumor suppressor proteins for the past decade, says the latest discovery by researchers in her laboratory provides an exciting new link in understanding how these proteins work together to regulate how or whether the cell replicates or dies.

“Our previous paper showed that these two proteins (PTEN and p53) work together to regulate the cell,” she said. “This paper begins to show how the two work together.”

Liu published her research findings in a featured article titled Mechanistic insights into maintenance of high p53 acetylation by PTEN, in the Aug. 18 issue of Molecular Cell. Co-authors include UCR colleagues Andrew G. Li, Landon G. Piluso Xin Cai and Gang Wei; with William R. Sellers in the Department of Medical Oncology, Dana Ferber Cancer Institute of Harvard University in Boston.

They found that when a cell’s DNA becomes damaged, PTEN forms a complex with another protein, p300, which in effect, switches on p53, a very important tumor suppressor.

“I would like to continue to expand our understanding of how p53 is activated in conjunction with PTEN and under what circumstances it functions to protect the cell,” Liu said.

Because her work has been done mostly in the test tube, Liu would like to determine whether her findings can be replicated in the animal testing phase.

Source: University of California, Riverside

Related stories:

Researchers identify promising cancer drug target in prostate tumors
Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report they have blocked the development of prostate tumors in cancer-prone mice by knocking out a molecular unit they describe as a "powerhouse" that drives runaway cell growth.
Food for thought -- regulating energy supply to the brain during fasting
If the current financial climate has taught us anything, it's that a system where over-borrowing goes unchecked eventually ends in disaster. It turns out this rule applies as much to our bodies as it does to economics. Instead of cash, our body deals in energy borrowed from muscle and given to the brain.
Elderly turtle pair fails to produce offspring
(AP) -- She's around 80 years old. He's 100. Breathless scientists watched as the world's most endangered turtles successfully mated.
China space mission returns after first spacewalk
(AP) -- Three Chinese astronauts made a jubilant return to Earth on Sunday after successfully completing the country's first-ever spacewalk, an event the premier said was "a stride forward" in China's space history.
Chinese astronaut makes nation's first spacewalk
(AP) -- A Chinese astronaut on Saturday performed the nation's first-ever spacewalk, the latest milestone in an ambitious program that is increasingly rivaling the United States and Russia in its rapid expansion.
Baby cereal latest problem in China milk scandal
(AP) -- The list of products caught in China's tainted milk scandal grew Friday to include baby cereal in Hong Kong and snack foods in Japan, while Taiwan reported three children and a mother with kidney stones in the island's first cases possibly linked to the crisis.
EU bans baby food with Chinese milk, recalls grow
(AP) -- The European Union banned imports of baby food containing Chinese milk on Thursday as tainted dairy products linked to the deaths of four babies turned up in candy and other Chinese-made goods that were quickly pulled from stores worldwide.
China launches mission for first spacewalk
(AP) -- China successfully launched a three-man crew into space Thursday to carry out the country's first spacewalk, beginning the nation's most challenging space mission since it first sent a person into space in 2003.

News discussion:

Medicine & Health news