(Press-News.org) Researchers at the University of North Carolina have discovered that transcription factors regulating the levels of oxygen in the blood also play a role in the spread of the skin cancer melanoma.
In research published April 8 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, a research team led by William Kim, MD, member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and graduate student and first author Sara Hanna, linked melanoma metastases to a pair of transcription factors known as HIF1 and HIF2.
Researchers found that HIF1 and HIF2 are overexpressed in melanoma tumors. In healthy cells, HIF1 and HIF2 assist in regulating hypoxia, the state caused by low levels of oxygen in the blood. Hypoxia has been linked to metastases in several sold tumors, and the UNC team has found that it promotes the spread of melanoma from the skin to other sites in the body through the lymphatic system.
Patients who are diagnosed with early stage melanomas have a high rate of survival, but the prognosis worsens significantly once the tumors spread to other sites throughout the body. Using in vitro systems and mouse models, researchers suppressed the expression of HIF1 and HIF2 in the melanoma tumors. While the inactivation of the transcription factors did not reduce the growth of the initial tumors, it did reduce the rate at which the melanoma spread to other sites in the body.
Both HIF1 and HIF2 independently activate the protein kinase SRC using different signaling pathways. The SRC protein has been linked to several different cancers, and the identification of its role in melanoma suggests that existing therapies targeting SRC may prove to be a viable target for therapies aimed at reducing the spread and ultimate lethality of the cancer.
"What we are trying to do now is inhibit these pathways with drugs in the mice to see if we see a decrease of metastasis," said Hanna.
INFORMATION:
UNC researchers who contributed to this article include Bhavani Krishnan, PhD; Sean Bailey; Stergios Moschos, MD; Pei-Fen Kuan, PhD; Marni Siegel and C. Ryan Miller, MD, PhD, of the Lineberger Cancer Center; and Lukas Osborne, E. Tim O'Brien III and Richard Superfine, PhD, of the UNC Department of Physics and Astronomy.
This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (P30-DK-034987), the National Cancer Institute (3P30CA016086), the Department of Defense (W81XWH-09-2-0042) and the University Cancer Research Fund.
Transcription factors regulating blood oxygen linked to melanoma metastases
2013-04-16
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Layered '2-D nanocrystals' promising new semiconductor
2013-04-16
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers are developing a new type of semiconductor technology for future computers and electronics based on "two-dimensional nanocrystals" layered in sheets less than a nanometer thick that could replace today's transistors.
The layered structure is made of a material called molybdenum disulfide, which belongs to a new class of semiconductors - metal di-chalogenides - emerging as potential candidates to replace today's technology, complementary metal oxide semiconductors, or CMOS.
New technologies will be needed to allow the semiconductor industry ...
NYU Langone research shows early investment in families helps children succeed in school
2013-04-16
An innovative program that supports parents and teachers of public school pre-kindergarten students improves early academic achievement, according to a new study published in the April 15 online edition of Pediatrics. In a five-year study of 1,050 minority pre-kindergarten students from disadvantaged neighborhoods in New York City, NYU Langone researchers found that ParentCorps, a family-focused, school-based program, led to better achievement test scores and overall school performance.
Children from low-income families are ten times as likely as children from middle-class ...
New approaches to maximize the antitumor activity of interferon
2013-04-16
New Rochelle, NY, April 16, 2013—Interferons have antitumor activity and have been used to treat a variety of malignancies, including colorectal and ovarian cancers. However, their effectiveness varies. A clearer understanding of the role of interferon in immune-mediated tumor cell death and how its antitumor effects could be optimized are presented in a comprehensive Review article published in Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free online on the Journal of Interferon ...
How does acupuncture work? The science behind the therapy explored
2013-04-16
New Rochelle, NY, April 16, 2013—Even as medical acupuncture is increasingly being validated as an effective treatment for a broad range of medical conditions, what has been missing is an understanding of the basic science and mechanisms of action of this age-old method of healing. A special issue of Medical Acupuncture, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers presents a series of articles by authors from around the world who provide diverse and insightful perspectives on the science and physiologic responses underlying medical acupuncture. ...
Energy efficiency could increase infection risks in hospital wards
2013-04-16
The chance of infection in some hospital wards varies dramatically according to whether the nurses leave the windows open.
A University of Leeds-led team studied airflow in a "Nightingale" ward—a classic hospital ward design that traditionally accommodates two rows of up to 30 beds—by using tracer gases to simulate how airborne infections spread.
They found ventilation in the ward was generally good when windows were left open, keeping the danger of airborne infection low. But risks increased fourfold when the windows were closed.
Lead investigator Dr Cath Noakes, ...
Building a better capacitor with custom nanorods
2013-04-16
A new process for growing forests of manganese dioxide nanorods may lead to the next generation of high-performance capacitors.
As an energy-storage material for batteries and capacitors, manganese dioxide has a lot going for it: it's cheap, environmentally friendly and abundant. However, chemical capacitors made with manganese dioxide have lacked the power of the typical carbon-based physical capacitor. Michigan Technological University scientist Dennis Desheng Meng theorized that the situation could be improved if the manganese dioxide were made into nanorods, which ...
Survived cancer? Now look out for cardiovascular risks
2013-04-16
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., – April 16, 2013 – Many people survive their cancers, but end up dying of cardiovascular disease (CVD). New research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center finds that CVD risk factors may be overlooked during survivorship care.
Kathryn E. Weaver, Ph.D., assistant professor of social sciences and health policy at Wake Forest Baptist, and colleagues surveyed survivors of breast, prostate, colorectal and gynecologic cancers in search of answers.
"Increasingly, we are concerned about cardiovascular health in long-term cancer survivors, and we believe ...
Can computer-based decision support control health care costs?
2013-04-16
INDIANAPOLIS -- William M. Tierney, M.D. focuses on the potential of electronic medical systems and computer-based decision support to control healthcare costs in "Controlling costs with computer-based decision support: a hammer, a scalpel or an illusion?" published online in JAMA Internal Medicine on April 15.
Dr. Tierney is president and CEO of the Regenstrief Institute, associate dean for clinical effectiveness research at the Indiana University School of Medicine, chief of medicine for Wishard-Eskenazi Health, and a practicing physician.
Drawing upon his lengthy ...
Love at first sniff: Male moths go by first impressions
2013-04-16
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — An international team of researchers, including an entomologist at the University of California, Riverside, has an explanation for why we see so many hybrid moths in nature. The team closely examined the behavior and the olfactory circuitry of male moths and found an answer in female-produced pheromones — chemicals generally consisting of a blend of two to several derivatives of fatty acids.
Male moths use pheromones to find females. To avoid mating with the wrong moth species, the pheromone blends are specific for each moth species, with only males ...
Better coordination necessary to reduce hospital readmission rates
2013-04-16
Achieving widespread reductions in preventable hospital readmissions among Medicare beneficiaries may take longer than many health care professionals originally anticipated, according to researchers at Penn State, the Weill Cornell Medical College and the University of Pennsylvania.
"Studies show that one in five Medicare beneficiaries returns to the hospital within 30 days of discharge at an annual cost of $18 billion to the program, and many of these readmissions are thought to be preventable with better care," said Jessica Mittler, assistant professor of health policy ...