Cancer treatment: neutralize the provocateur
American researchers will study the protein that provokes the development of cancer
ABC Magazine based on Science Insider: U.S. Cancer Institute 'Megaproject' to Target Common Cancer-Driving ProteinDespite the acute lack of funding, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the United States announced the launch of a "mega-project" to find ways to block protein synthesis, which provokes the development of one third of all known cancers.
The research will involve employees of the Institute's laboratory in Frederick and hundreds of American researchers from other institutes and pharmaceutical companies.
The project, dubbed the "RAS project", will cost NCI $10 million, which will be allocated during the review of funding for other research of the institute. The scientists focus on the RAS family of genes that synthesize proteins that stimulate growth and increase cell survival. RAS gene mutation is found in 33 percent of cancer patients and 95 percent of pancreatic cancer patients. According to NCI Director Harold Varmus, scientists have known for 30 years that RAS play a crucial role in the development of cancer – now it's time to find ways to fight them.
Research centers of pharmaceutical companies have been trying for many years to find a molecule capable of affecting the RAS protein. But the problem is that this protein lacks a binding center to which a drug molecule could attach and block its activity. NCI researchers are convinced that it is possible to find the weak points of this protein only through the joint efforts of a large number of researchers and pharmaceutical companies. The NCI laboratory will also participate in the research. In addition, she is ready to supply other researchers with monoclonal antibodies, cell cultures and laboratory mice.
As part of the RAS project, at least 5 large-scale studies will be conducted. The first will concern the study of KRAS – the most common form of the RAS protein – and its interaction with molecules inside cells. The second study will be devoted to the search for new strategies for blocking KRAS, for example, the latest peptides. The third study will be devoted to computer modeling of complexes that KRAS forms inside cells and finding ways to destroy them. In the course of the fourth study, it is planned to compile a detailed description of cells carrying the KRAS mutation – this may help to find surface proteins or peptides that can be affected by antibodies or nanoparticles. The fifth study will analyze siRNA – molecules that block gene transcription. The researchers also plan to create a website dedicated to the project, where researchers and scientists from any country will be able to comment on the progress of research and suggest new directions for them.
To present the complexity of the tasks facing the RAS project participants,
take a look at the scheme of the metabolic pathway of the RAS – VM proteinPortal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru