Scientists may have found a way to keep a protein “watchdog” on high alert to stop hereditary cancers from overrunning our bodies – if they can keep it on a leash of just the right length. In a collaborative effort, a team of scientists including Purdue University’s Susan M. Mendrysa has found that one of the proteins found naturally in cells has the ability to halt the progression of intestinal tumors that arise from genetic predisposition. When the activity of this protein, known only by the technical name of p53, was artificially increased in the cells of laboratory mice, those known to have a hereditary predisposition for developing cancer showed a marked decrease in tumor development when compared with mice that had normal p53 activity. The study also indicated that the treated mice did not suffer from the side effect the research team most feared: premature aging, which has been linked to overproduction of p53 in other studies. The discovery could assist in future human cancer treatments.
