THE search for cancer treatments has taken a big step forward with a new insight into how cells multiply, scientists have said.
Researchers at Dundee University have identified the process by which DNA unwinds, duplicates and ensures that only a single copy of each chromosome is made. A failure in this process is one of the fundamental areas of biology that goes wrong in cancer.
The work, funded by the Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK and the Wellcome Trust, could lead to improved methods of safely killing cancer cells.
In a research paper published in the journal Science, Professor Karim Labib and Marija Maric from the College of Life Sciences at Dundee described a key part of the multiplication process.
Professor Labib said: "We knew 11 proteins in the cell combine to build a molecular 'machine' called the DNA helicase, which plays a vital role in copying the double helix of DNA that is at the heart of each chromosome …
"We have discovered that one of the 11 components of the helicase undergoes a change which makes it fall out of the 'machine'. Taking out one component of the helicase means the other proteins cannot continue to stick together and the 'machine' falls apart."
This, Professor Labib said, is one the fundamental areas of biology that goes wrong in cancer.
He added: "One of the goals in cancer research is to understand the normal biology that goes wrong in cancer cells, because only then can we look for better ways to kill cancer cells without hurting the rest of our body."
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