A team of scientists from the University of Bern, the Inselspital Bern, and the University of Connecticut has found a weak point in some tumors that could become the key to developing a highly effective weapon against cancer.
Specifically, they have studied it in the prostate cancer. However, it is a mechanism that could be found in many other tumors. Basically, this strategy against cancer consists of attacking one of the tools that tumors use to proliferate. A tool that, in reality, had not been analyzed until now.
Therein lies the most interesting part of this investigation. It’s about a weak point that was not yet known, so it can open the door to new cancer therapies, perhaps more effective than current ones. Logically, there is still a long way to go, but this news, which is published today in molecular cellIt looks quite hopeful.
The indispensable role of the spliceosome in protein synthesis
These scientists have based their cancer research on a complex called spliceosome. It is a component of the cellular machinery that participates in the process by which genes are transformed into proteins.
We already know that DNA makes up the instruction book of an organism. That is, the genes indicate everything necessary for its functioning and even for its appearance. But not all genes are read at once, just as we don’t usually read the instruction book for a washing machine at the same time. Generally, we resort to the part we need at each moment. That is what happens in our body. But for those instructions to be used correctly, they must be passed into a language that cells can read. That’s why, DNA is transcribed into something called messenger RNA and then, is translated into proteinswhich are the ones that will finally make all this information effective.
But not all genes become proteins in the end. There are some, known as non-coding genes, which have other functions, but don’t end up being translated. To select them, like the worker who removes poorly manufactured parts on a production line, our cells have the spliceosome. Its function is basically remove unreadable messenger RNA fragments and fuse the rest, so they can be translated into proteins.
It consists of two parts, the major and minor spliceosome. The first is the one that processes most genes. However, in the minor, the associated genes are processed as a priority. to cell growth and division. Given that tumors come precisely from cells that divide uncontrollably, it would not be strange if there could be some relationship with cancer. And sure enough, when these scientists searched there for a weak point that would serve as a weapon against cancer, they found it.
A weak point to fight against cancer
These scientists analyzed several samples of advanced prostate cancer and observed that in them there was a greater quantity of a particular component of the minor spliceosome.
This is an important finding, which indicates that, as they suspected, the tumor cells would be promoting the synthesis of proteins that help them continue dividing. Therefore, they thought that it could be the key to a future tool against cancer, but they had to check it out.
To do this, they resorted tolaboratory-grown prostate cancer cells and organoids. These are small organs that are made to study certain drugs. In both cases, they found that blocking this component of the minor spliceosome reduced the growth of prostate cancer. We might rightly think that this might not extrapolate beyond laboratory cultures. But another interesting fact is that, when they compared the effects of this blockade with those of the conventional treatments for prostate cancerhis new finding was more effective.
For all this, these scientists have already applied for a patent to continue investigating this weak point located in the spliceosome. Since many other types of cancer proliferate in a similar way to prostate cancer, they suspect that it could be perfectly extrapolated. There are still many steps to go, but opening the door to new paths always increases the chances of reaching the goal.