A newly-identified protein that can flag an important tumor suppressor gene for destruction may be a key player in the development of lung cancer. Writing in the Nov. 17 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, scientists in the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC) note that the protein, called Pirh2, when overexpressed, diminishes the activity of p53 – possibly the most powerful tumor suppressor in the entire genome. When it functions normally, p53 regulates several critical cellular processes, including cell growth and death, DNA repair and angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels. Studies show that p53 mutation is common, occurring in at least half of all cancer.
