Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
‘Volume control’ could combat cancer growth
A ‘MOLECULAR volume control’ could manipulate enzyme activity in order to combat the growth of cancerous tumours, according to Dundee University researchers.
Along with staff from Bath University, they discovered new functions of an enzyme called Dual-specificity phosphatase 5 (DUSP5).
Previous evidence showed DUSP5 can help switch off the activity of another enzyme called ERK, which allows the suppression of cancerous tumours.
Yet, DUSP5 activity has still been found i n several other instances of human cancers.
But now the Dundee-Bath team has shown that at a certain level of DUSP5 activity can actually completely stop cancer cell formation.
They found that driving ERK activation to high levels makes cancer cells shut down.
A comparison would be listening to music and being unable to hear comfortably when the volume is either too quiet or too loud.
In a similar manner it appears that increasing or decreasing DUSP5 levels in cells can push ERK activity into ranges that are either too low or too high to cause cancer growth.
Dundee University’s Professor Stephen Keyse said: “DUSP5 does inhibit ERK activity, but sometimes this allows cancer cells to persist and grow.
“This suggests that targeting DUSP5 and thus increasing the level of ERK signalling beyond a tolerable level may offer a new route for combatting the progression of some tumours.”