Virus takes advantage of cancer
A virus that exploits a gene defect common to cancer cells and selectively kills them may offer a new avenue for therapy, suggest researchers in Nature.
The gene p53 is mutated in about half of all human cancers (an event directly implicated in tumour progression) so a way of killing such cells offers the attractive possibility of treating multiple cancer types with one drug. The human adeno-associated virus (AAV) selectively induces cell death in p53-defective cells, Peter Beard and his colleagues of the Swiss Institute for Cancer Research (ISREC) in Epalinges, Switzerland, have now discovered. Cells retaining their copy of p53 instead halt cell division.
Even AAVs engineered to lack all genes and containing only hairpin-looped DNA ends cause cell death, suggesting that the viral DNA structure mimics DNA damage in the cell. Cells have very sensitive sensors for DNA damage that can activate repair mechanisms or drive them to suicide to prevent mutation accumulation and hence potential oncogenic transformation. Tumours in mice were also reduced by injection of the virus, the team found.
Continued research into strategies to exploit p53 should eventually lead to one that bears fruit — “each of which has the potential to benefit millions,” say Bert Vogelstein and Kenneth Kinzler at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Johns Hopkins Oncology Center in Baltimore, Maryland, in an accompanying News and Views article.
Media Contact
More Information:
http://www.nature.com/cancer/hotp/200109/4.htmlAll latest news from the category: Health and Medicine
This subject area encompasses research and studies in the field of human medicine.
Among the wide-ranging list of topics covered here are anesthesiology, anatomy, surgery, human genetics, hygiene and environmental medicine, internal medicine, neurology, pharmacology, physiology, urology and dental medicine.
Newest articles
Botanic Gardens Unite to Protect Endangered Wild Plants
A major study of botanic gardens around the world has revealed their struggles with one fundamental aim: to safeguard the world’s most threatened plants from extinction. Researchers analysed a century’s…
Parents Report Dental Issues Linked to Kids’ Oral Hygiene Habits
More than a third of parents say their child doesn’t regularly brush teeth twice a day, many kids don’t follow other dental recommendations like flossing More than one in three…
Weight-Loss Surgery Reduces Liver Disease Risks in Obese Patients
SPECCIAL study suggests bariatric surgery favorably influences progression of cirrhosis Weight-Loss Surgery Lowers Risk of Developing Complications of Liver Disease in Patients with Cirrhosis and Obesity SPECCIAL study suggests bariatric…