Suppressor

Scientists identify molecule that regulates well-known tumor suppressor

Scientists have discovered that a molecule called DJ-1 is likely to be involved in the generation of human tumors through negative regulation of the well-known tumor suppressor, PTEN. The research, published in the March issue of Cancer Cell, has important implications for determining the prognosis of some human cancers, and may prove to be a suitable target for cancer therapy. The phospha...

New tumor-suppressor gene discovered

A new tumor-suppressor gene has been discovered by a team of researchers at Penn State, which also has discovered how the gene works with another tumor suppressor to control tissue growth. The team's genetic and biochemical studies will be published in the 11 March 2005 issue of the journal Cell. "This discovery extends our understanding of how tissue growth is controlled both during normal devel...

Natural tumor suppressor in body discovered by UCSD medical researchers

A natural tumor suppressor that could potentially be turned on in certain cancer cells to prevent the formation of tumors has been discovered by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine. Located on chromosome 18 and called PH domain Leucine-rich repeat Protein Phosphatase (PHLPP, pronounced "flip"), the tumor suppressor is described in the April 1,...

Novel regulatory mechanism identified for key tumor suppressor p53

Collaborating scientists from The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia and The Vienna Biocenter in Austria have identified a novel mechanism involved in normal repression of the p53 protein, perhaps the single most important molecule for the control of cancer in humans. The new molecular pathway described in the study suggests intriguing approaches to diagnosing or intervening in the progress...

Researchers discover how tumor suppressor gene works

A team of University of Minnesota researchers has discovered how a gene that suppresses the development of melanoma and other human cancers works. The study points the way to treatments based on the function of the gene. The researchers, led by Zigang Dong, director of the university's Hormel Institute in Austin, Minn., have applied for a patent on one such treatment. The work will be published o...

Restoring silenced suppressor gene kills lung-cancer cells

A new study suggests that restoring a gene often silenced in lung cancer causes the cells to self-destruct. The findings could lead to a new strategy for treating the disease. The research focused on a gene known as WWOX, which is lost or silenced in a large majority of lung cancers, and in cancers of the breast, ovary, prostate, bladder, esophagus and pancreas. The work was led by scient...

Little known DNA repair enzyme may be a tumor suppressor gene

Use of the amino acid supplement L-arginine following a heart attack does not improve certain cardiac functions and measurements and may be associated with an increased risk of death, according to a study in the January 4 issue of JAMA. L-arginine is a widely available dietary supplement and is publicized as having benefits for patients with hypertension, angina, heart failure and sexual d...

Researchers uncover new mechanism of tumor suppressor

Researchers from the University of Colorado-Denver and Health Sciences Center and Stanford University have discovered a molecular mechanism that explains how cells respond to DNA damage and other acute stresses, and if disrupted can cause cancer. Their findings, which could lead to new diagnostic markers and cancer treatments with fewer side effects, will appear in two reports in the May 21 adva...

Structure determined for p53 tumor suppressor protein as bound to DNA for anti-cancer activity

More than half of human cancers involve mutations in the p53 tumor-suppressor gene, suggesting the critical role played by the normal p53 protein in defending against cancer. Similarly, roughly 95 percent of cancer-causing mutations in the p53 protein occur in its DNA-binding core domain, pointing to this region of the p53 protein as being pivotal to its anti-cancer activity. Clearly, a d...

MicroRNAs can be tumor suppressors

University of Virginia researchers have discovered that microRNAs, a form of genetic material, can function as tumor suppressors in laboratory studies. In the May 1 issue of Genes & Development, UVa researchers Drs. Yong Sun Lee and Anindya Dutta have shown that microRNAs can suppress the overexpression of a gene called HMGA2. This gene is related to creation of fatty tissue and certa...

MicroRNAs as tumor suppressors

In the May 1st issue of G&D, Drs. Yong Sun Lee and Anindya Dutta (UVA) reveal that microRNAs can function as tumor suppressors in vitro. "Overexpression of HMGA2 is an important feature of many medically important tumors like uterine fibroids,?explains Dr. Dutta. “It is very exciting to realize that microRNAs have an important role in suppressing the overexpression of HMGA2, and so ma...

Tumor-suppressor gene is critical for placenta development

An important cancer-related gene may play a critical role in the development of the placenta, the organ that controls nutrient and oxygen exchange between a mother and her fetus during pregnancy, and perhaps in miscarriages. Those conclusions come from a new study of the retinoblastoma (Rb) gene in mice. In humans, this gene, when mutated, raises the risk of a rare cancer of the eye calle...

UCSD researchers discover variants of natural tumor suppressor

Building on their 2005 discovery of an enzyme that is a natural tumor suppressor, researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have now identified two variants of that enzyme which could provide new targets for therapies to treat diabetes, heart and neurological disease. The findings, by Alexandra C. Newton, Ph.D., UCSD professor of pharmacology, and colleague...