Optimizing Protein's "Death Domain" Halts Leukemia In Laboratory Study

A part of the system that causes cells to self-destruct when they are damaged or unneeded has been harnessed to kill leukemia cells in mice, say scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The discovery could aid in the discovery of new drugs for cancer and other diseases. The researchers plucked a critical "death domain" from a key molecule in the self-destruction mechanism of a cell, stiffened its Slinky-like structure with chemical "staples," and used it as a highly specific weapon to destroy leukemia cells. The findings will be published in the Sept. 3 issue of the journal Science.