Wistar Maps Telomerase Enzyme Present in Most Cancers
Scientists from The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have successfully mapped a key portion of the telomerase enzyme, a chemical present in over 90 percent of human cancers.
Telomerase has been strongly linked to aging and cancer because of its role in cell division. Previous research has suggested that telomerase may fuel the uncontrolled cell proliferation that leads to tumor growth, but research efforts have been hampered because details about the enzyme’s structure remained a mystery.
To help overcome that hurdle, Wistar’s team used x-ray crystallography to map the three-dimensional structure of telomerase’s active region. The information they’ve discovered will provide important data to researchers developing targeted treatments for many different forms of cancer, as well as others working on anti-aging therapies.
As one Wistar scientist said,
“Telomerase is an ideal target for chemotherapy because it is active in almost all human tumors, but inactive in most normal cells. That means that a drug that deactivates telomerase would likely work against all cancers, with few side effects.”
Emmanuel Skordalakes, PhD
Asst Prof, Wistar Institute Gene Expression and Regulation Program
If you’d like to learn more, this research has been published in the August 31, 2008, online edition of the journal Nature.
Sources: BBC News (UK) and USNews.com
Related Links: Forbes.com; American Federation for Aging Research
Technorati Tags: apoptosis; biochemistry; drug development; oncology; pharmaceutical research; telomeres
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