(VIB/KU Leuven) have found a new line of approach in which to treat these aggressive skin cancers, namely by combating the interaction between the protein MDM4 and the tumor suppressor p53. Their research offers a new angle for the development of medication and confirms that combination therapies – including those using the recently developed BRAF inhibitors – hold the promise of further improvement of the clinical response to a treatment. This study was published in the authoritative journal Nature Medicine and will undoubtedly be followed with interest by the pharmaceutical industry.
Chris Marine: "Our results are important on two levels. From a scientific perspective, it is very important that we have been able to prove that p53 plays a key role in the formation of melanomas. However, this research also offers perspectives for optimizing the existing treatment strategies for melanomas. The current treatment with BRAF inhibitors has positive effects on nearly 80% of the patients, but many of them relapse after a few months. We may have discovered a way of preventing this relapse".
p53, MDM4 and the formation of cancer
Chris Marine and his team has a long standing interest in p53 - a master tumor suppressor protein (in other words a protein that counteract the formation of cancer). Mutations in the p53 gene are very common in many various types of cancer. Surprisingly, mutations in p53 are (almost) never seen in melanomas. Scientists suspected that melanomas had found an alternative way of bypassing the action of p53.
The protein MDM4 has a negative effect on the action of p53 and has been the scientific focus of the VIB investigators for many years. Agnieszka Gembarska and Chris Marine have now demonstrated that (65% of) melanomas contain much higher concentrations of the MDM4 protein than normal cells. The scientists found a pharmacological way to inhibit the interaction between MDM4 and p53 and were thereby able to restore the tumor suppressive effect of p53 in melanoma cells.
Chris Marine: "The restoration of the p53 activity in the melanoma cells makes these cells more susceptible to chemotherapy and the BRAF inhibitors. In our research, we were able to identify MDM4 as a very promising target for treatment of melanoma, as part of a combination therapy.
### END
New line of approach for combination therapy against melanoma
2012-07-24
(Press-News.org) A melanoma is a malignant form of skin cancer and is one of the most aggressive types of tumors there is. Treatment is particularly difficult, because melanomas are usually resistant against conventional chemotherapy treatments. Agnieszka Gembarska and Chris Marine
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Neuroeconomics to study decision-making in anxious individuals
2012-07-24
Philadelphia, PA, July 23, 2012 – Anxiety disorders affect approximately 40 million American adults each year, and although they are treatable, they often cause significant distress.
The excessive fear and dread that accompanies anxiety disorders clearly influences the everyday decision-making processes of anxious individuals. Despite its importance, "there is surprisingly little research on how anxiety disorders influence decisions," commented neuroscientist Dr. Elizabeth Phelps, who co-authored this new review with Dr. Catherine Hartley, both of New York University. ...
Largest review of management and treatment of Barrett's dysplasia and adenocarcinoma
2012-07-24
The world's largest review of all the evidence on the best way of managing and treating common pre-cancerous and cancerous conditions of the oesophagus (gullet) has found that good endoscopy equipment, more endoscopic surgery, and more tissue sampling are required to improve care for patients.
The multi-national team of researchers led by Professor Janusz Jankowski of the Blizard Institute of Cell and Molecular Science at Queen Mary, University of London (UK), reviewed nearly 12,000 papers on the care and treatment of Barrett's Dysplasia and early-stage oesophageal adenocarcinoma. ...
Croscat Volcano may have been the last volcanic eruption in Spain 13,000 years ago
2012-07-24
The volcanic region of La Garrotxa, with some forty volcanic cones and some twenty lava flows, is considered to be the best conserved region in the Iberian Peninsula. It is also the youngest volcanic area. Although the approximate age of some of these volcanic constructions is known, one of the main problems when studying volcanoes is to pinpoint the chronology of each of their eruptions. Several geochronological studies have been conducted, but existing data is scarce and imprecise. With regard to the chronology of the Croscat Volcano, considered one of the most recent ...
America Invents Act is a game changer
2012-07-24
TAMPA, Fla. (Jul. 23, 2012) – In an article published in the current issue of Technology and Innovation- Proceedings of the National Academy of Inventors® (https://www.cognizantcommunication.com/journal-titles/technology-a-innovation?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=56&category_id=16), Janet Gongola, Patent Reform Coordinator for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), describes the process of implementing the America Invents Act (2011, H,R. 1249), the first patent law reform in 60 years.
"The America Invents Act is the foundation for a 21st ...
Traveling through the volcanic conduit
2012-07-24
How much ash will be injected into the atmosphere during Earth's next volcanic eruption? Recent eruptions have demonstrated our continued vulnerability to ash dispersal, which can disrupt the aviation industry and cause billions of dollars in economic loss. Scientists widely believe that volcanic particle size is determined by the initial fragmentation process, when bubbly magma deep in the volcano changes into gas-particle flows.
But new Georgia Tech research indicates a more dynamic process where the amount and size of volcanic ash actually depend on what happens afterward, ...
Powerful class of antioxidants may be potent Parkinson's treatment
2012-07-24
AUGUSTA, Ga. – A new and powerful class of antioxidants could one day be a potent treatment for Parkinson's disease, researchers report.
A class of antioxidants called synthetic triterpenoids blocked development of Parkinson's in an animal model that develops the disease in a handful of days, said Dr. Bobby Thomas, neuroscientist at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Health Sciences University and corresponding author of the study in the journal Antioxidants & Redox Signaling.
Thomas and his colleagues were able to block the death of dopamine-producing brain ...
New model of disease contagion ranks US airports in terms of their spreading influence
2012-07-24
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Public health crises of the past decade — such as the 2003 SARS outbreak, which spread to 37 countries and caused about 1,000 deaths, and the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic that killed about 300,000 people worldwide — have heightened awareness that new viruses or bacteria could spread quickly across the globe, aided by air travel.
While epidemiologists and scientists who study complex network systems — such as contagion patterns and information spread in social networks — are working to create mathematical models that describe the worldwide spread of disease, ...
Researchers develop ginseng-fortified milk to improve cognitive function
2012-07-24
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 23, 2012 – American ginseng is reported to have neurocognitive effects, and research has shown benefits in aging, central nervous system disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. The challenges of incorporating ginseng into food are twofold: it has a bitter taste, and food processing can eliminate its healthful benefits. Reporting in the August issue of the Journal of Dairy Science®, a group of scientists has formulated low-lactose functional milk that maintained beneficial levels of American ginseng after processing. An exploratory ...
Trial signals major milestone in hunt for new TB drugs
2012-07-24
WASHINGTON, DC/LONDON (July 23, 2012) – A novel approach to discover the first new tuberculosis (TB) combination drug regimen cleared a major hurdle when Phase II clinical trial results found it could kill more than 99 percent of patients' TB bacteria within two weeks and could be more effective than existing treatments, according to a study published today in the Lancet. These results add to a growing body of evidence that the new regimen could reduce treatment by more than a year for some patients.
The findings from researchers and the non-profit TB Alliance raise hope ...
Neural precursor cells induce cell death in certain brain tumors
2012-07-24
Neural precursor cells (NPC) in the young brain suppress certain brain tumors such as high-grade gliomas, especially glioblastoma (GBM), which are among the most common and most aggressive tumors. Now researchers of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have deciphered the underlying mechanism of action with which neural precursor cells protect the young brain against these tumors. They found that the NPC release substances that activate TRPV1 ion channels in the tumor cells and subsequently induce the ...