2023-05-17 13:18:54
The breakthrough came when Harvard scientist Megan Insco discovered in her research on zebrafish that the CDK13 gene acts as a tumor suppressor.
Changes in this gene seem to encourage the development of a certain type of skin cancer, melanoma, which can spread to other areas in the body.
When Megan Insco and her colleagues compared the results to cancer in humans, they found mutations in CDK13 or in the proteins involved in the gene in 21 percent of melanomas studied.
A broken vacuum cleaner
The cause probably lies in the job of the gene in the body. Because upon closer examination, the researchers saw that CDK13 is part of a kind of clearing system in the cells that ensures that broken transmitters of genetic information, RNA molecules, are removed.
But the mutations in the gene seem to halt the cleanup work.
“There are hundreds of steps in making RNAs, and sometimes things go wrong,” says Megan Insco in a press release.
Such errors are usually removed. But here we saw that the cell did not clear them. The vacuum cleaner was broken, causing the RNAs to accumulate.’
Understanding the small mechanisms that cause cancer is important, but it is only a beginning step.
The researchers now want to see if they can develop potential new treatments that target the prevention of mutations in the CDK13 gene.
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