Article
Renewed Efforts to Target the Ras Protein in Cancer
Despite decades of efforts to target the Ras protein, mutated in a number of different cancers, the progress has been slow. Now, scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Germany have devised a way to prevent translocation of Ras to the cell surface, a process essential for protein activation.
Scientists have found a possible way to halt one of the most common faults in many types of cancer, according to research presented at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool today (Wednesday).
A team of scientists* at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Germany has uncovered a new strategy and new potential drug to target an important signalling protein in cells called Ras, which is faulty in a third of cancers.
When the Ras protein travels from the centre of a cell to the cell membrane, it becomes ‘switched on’ and sends signals which tell cells to grow and divide. Faulty versions of this protein cause too many of these signals to be produced — leading to cancer.
Link to the complete press release: http://bit.ly/1tA8DQo
Source: Cancer Research UK
Link to the paper published in Nature: http://bit.ly/1zweBqh
