( sponsible for energy regulation within ...)Energy management in cells may hold key to cancer defense

sponsible for energy regulation within the cell, which should offer new opportunities in cancer treatment," said Hurley. "If we can stifle a cancer cell's ability to adapt to an energy deficit, it might lose its growth advantage." "You need to know how all these proteins interact before you can make truly significant advances," echoes Witters "It's like poker; not only do you need to know what each card signifies individually, but you must have an understanding of how they play off each other in order to win."

In addition to cancer-fighting potential of AMPK regulation, the enzyme also responds to changes in insulin or glucose and mediates impaired energy metabolism, a hallmark of type 2 diabetes. "This indicates that AMPK is a very tempting target for the treatment of some forms of diabetes and even obesity," said Witters.

As Witters' laboratory continues to zero in on the central role of kinases in the treatment of disease, he acknowledges that this research is becoming more complex and multiple approaches are needed to find solutions. Witters believes that significant breakthroughs in science can only be achieved through open collaboration, citing partnerships between faculty and students, and between other institutes outside the Dartmouth community.

Often referring to his laboratory as a classroom, Witters pointed out the integral roles played by Hurley and Dartmouth College undergraduate student Jeanne Franzone '05, a co-author of the study. "Students are the grand integrators of collaboration," he said, noting that Hurley traveled to other labs in the US to complete this study. Other co-authors of the study are Kristin Anderson and Anthony Means from Duke University and Bruce Kemp from The St. Vincent's Institute and CSIRO Health Sciences and Nutrition in Australia.

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Source:Dartmouth Medical School


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