BOSTON, Nov 30, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- U.S. scientists say they've identified
proteins that allow them to distinguish between cancer and normal cells with 97
percent accuracy.
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine and the Boston University
Biomedical Engineering Department said in addition they've developed a
computational strategy to identify key biological pathways that are active in
cancer and "dormant" in normal cells.
The scientists said their findings will ultimately lead to the development of
drugs specifically aimed to inhibit such cancer proteins.
Much of the cellular machinery involved with such biological processes is
controlled by a command control and communication system called signal
transduction, which is mainly controlled by a process called phosphorylation.
When a protein is phosphorylated it either becomes active or repressed depending
on its special function.
"Therefore, identifying the phosphorylation status of proteins in cancer cells
versus normal cells provides us with a unique ability to understand and perhaps
intervene with the command and control center of cancer cells," said co-senior
study author Professor Simon Kasif.
The researchers said a drug that would target this collection of proteins would
be effective treatment for most lung cancers.
"This is the first statistically validated phosphopeptide signature to diagnose
any disease, much less cancer or lung cancer," added senior co-author Dr. Martin
Steffen.
The research appears in the Nov. 25 issue of the online journal PLoS One.
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Copyright 2009 by United Press International