Researchers Find Mechanism to Refine Cancer Therapies
Researchers Find Mechanism to Refine Cancer Therapies
May 28, 2021 - Summarized from The Jerusalem Post
Medical Research, Research News
The Jerusalem Post – Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have discovered a novel mechanism, which is a promising target for cancer therapeutics to optimize cancer treatment, according to a new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances on Wednesday.
The researchers focused on studying processes in the cell which regulate cancer initiation and progression, specifically gene expression, a multistep process in which genes are transcripted, spliced, translated and eventually lead to a phenotype, an observable trait.
The study found that BRD4, which has a fundamental role in regulation gene expression, inhibits the expression of genes which are involved in translation, in which messenger RNA (MRNA) is translated to a protein, and can abolish protein synthesis, the process through which cells make proteins.
“Our understanding of human cancer progression and treatment largely depends on our ability to scientifically explore and deeply decipher the different cellular events which control these processes,” said Prof. Dan Levy, a scientist at BGU and the National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev.
The researchers have only studied the mechanism in breast cancer models so far, but are currently expanding it to other cancer types as well, such as melanoma and glioblastoma, according to Levy. The lab headed by Levy is also studying additional protein methylation pathways, such as cell cycles and programmed cell death.