According to the WHO, in 2020 almost 10 million deaths were attributed to cancer.
According to the WHO, the most common types of cancer are breast, lung, colon, rectal and prostate.
According to GLOBOCAN, it is estimated that around 16.3 million people will die from cancer in the world during the year 2040.
Scripps Research scientists, with collaborators in Japan, have discovered how a “poisoned” form of a protein could trigger a cascade of events that promotes the growth of some types of cancer.
According to the research, published in Nature Communications, it has also triggered the development of a drug candidate capable of reverting the protein responsible for cancer formation to its normal form. In mice with colon cancer, the drug prevented or dramatically slowed tumor formation.
“This is a potentially very important and pharmacological link between the environment, genes and cancer,” says study lead author Dr. Stuart Lipton, a professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine at Scripps Research and a clinical neurologist in La Jolla. .
Lipton’s research group previously discovered a process called protein S-nitrosylation, in which a molecule related to nitric oxide binds to sulfur atoms in proteins to change their functions.
Nitric oxide is found naturally in the body and is produced in response to inflammation. But it can also form from nitrates and nitrites that are eaten (in the form of processed meats) or breathed in (through cigarette smoke or air pollution).
What results did the investigation obtain?
The results suggest that processed meats, air pollution, tobacco smoke and inflammation – all of which are linked to some forms of cancer – could cause DNMT3B to adopt its cancer-promoting form.
The group showed that when DNMT3B is “poisoned” in this way, the expression levels of 173 different genes in human cells change. Among these genes is Ccnd2, which was already known to be involved in the formation of gastric and colon cancers in humans.
The research group in Japan then designed a drug that would prevent the S-nitrosylation of DNMT3B, but would not block its normal function or affect the S-nitrosylation of any other protein. This prevented NO, even when present at high levels, from converting DNMT3B to the “poisoned” form.
Lipton and Uehara’s teams found that the drug, known as DBIC, prevented isolated precancerous colon cells from turning into full-blown colon cancer in the laboratory.
What is cancer?
According to the WHO, cancer is a generic term used to designate a broad group of diseases that can affect any part of the body; There is also talk of malignant tumors or malignant neoplasms.
A defining characteristic of cancer is the rapid multiplication of abnormal cells that spread beyond their normal limits and can invade adjacent parts of the body or spread to other organs, in a process called metastasis.
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