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Scientists have found a way to reactivate a genetic response to cancer. Source: National Cancer Institute |
There's a new strategy on tap to defeat cancer, and it's all about genes. Scientists at Penn State believe that they can suppress a specific gene's enzyme-related activity in a way to reactivate a genetic response that causes tumors to kill themselves and stop new ones from growing. Importantly, the process would theoretically leave healthy tissue and organs alone.
The team found that treating cancerous mice with a molecule that inhibited the PAD4 enzyme, combined with other enzyme inhibitors, helped activate a process that shrank tumors almost as effectively as the common chemotherapy drug doxorubicin. And healthy tissue sustained much less damage than with the chemo drugs. Researchers believe that the gene's overexpression could be linked to some cancers and autoimmune diseases.
On the surface, this is potentially contradictory with earlier research. The scientists in this new study, Yanming Wang and Gong Chen, previously found that mice with a functioning PAD4 gene successfully fought off about 30 percent of harmful bacteria, versus only 10 percent for mice that had the defective gene. And cells that had a functioning PAD4 enzyme around the gene were able to build a barrier that killed off bacteria (like flesh-eating bacteria).
In other words, PAD4 does both good and bad. While past research showed that it worked to fight off bad bacteria, too much of it can lead to cancer, and inhibiting the PAD4 enzyme helped make the tumors go away. More research in animals is necessary, and human trials are key here. The concept seems to present the risk of suppressing an immune response that could lead to other health problems. But the idea is one worth following: In an age in which antibiotics can fight off infection, an overactive PAD4 isn't as needed as in ancient times when antibiotics weren't available. And so in later life, suppressing the PAD4 enzyme's activity could provide a valid way to smack down cancer but not harm healthy tissue around it.
For further details, read The Journal of Biological Chemistry.
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