A specific protein once thought to exist only in the brain may play a crucial role in a deadly form of thyroid cancer, as well as other cancers, and provide a fresh target for researchers seeking ways to stop its progression, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report ....
Dr. Bibb and Dr. Nwariaku teamed up and launched a study of both human and mouse thyroid cancer cells. They discovered that Cdk5 was present in specific cells of the thyroid called C cells, and that the protein could escape normal cellular control and cause the cancer in both humans and mice.
Now, with the help of other UT Southwestern scientists, Dr. Bibb and Dr. Nwariaku, both members of the Harold C. Simmons Cancer Center, are making important progress in their efforts to develop new treatments for this and other more common forms of endocrine cancers. One promising example is the use of high-throughput screening for compounds that block the Cdk5 protein pathway, the researchers said.
"There are currently two FDA-approved drugs for treating neuroendocrine cancers, but neither of them blocks this specific pathway -- one this study has shown to be a crucial vulnerability in the cancer, if appropriately targeted," Dr. Bibb said. "We were surprised, but encouraged, by the finding because they link the human nervous system to disease processes that include the toughest of all foes, cancer."
More read at :Cancer Cell
