Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have identified a new tumor suppressor gene that appears to be inactivated in gliomas, a deadly form of brain tumor. Levels of the protein coded by the gene, called ING4, appear to correspond with tumor aggressiveness, with the lowest levels seen in the highly malignant glioblastomas. In their report in the March 18 issue of Nature, the researchers also describe how ING4 appears to suppress the growth of new blood vessels to feed the tumor, a process called angiogenesis. ING (for INhibitor of tumor Growth) is a family of proteins known to be essential to the activity of the powerful tumor suppressor p53. The research team, led by Igor Garkavtsev, MD, PhD, of the Steele Laboratory in the MGH Department of Radiation Oncology, searched a gene database to identify genes with a similar structure to the previously identified ING1.
