Antiviral enzymes are enzymes that cells normally use to fight viruses. It is also involved in keeping cancer cells alive, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered on October 2006.
In February 2013 it was founded that APOBEC3B is an enzymatic source of mutation in breast cancer. Now researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered that a human antiviral enzyme causes DNA mutations that lead to several forms of cancer.
Researchers analysed tumor samples from 19 different types of cancer for the presence of APOBEC3B and 10 related proteins. Their result showed that APOBEC3B alone was significantly elevated in six types (bladder, cervix, two forms of lung cancer, head & neck, and breast). Levels of the enzyme, is present in low levels in most healthy tissues.
They also find that the mutational signature of APOBEC3B is a close match to the actual mutation pattern in these cancers.
Findings from both studies are counter intuitive because the enzyme, which is produced by the immune system, is supposed to protect cells from HIV and other viruses, not harm our own genomic DNA.
While it's well known that sunlight and chemical carcinogens can mutate DNA, and that mutations are essential for cancer to develop, Harris is the first to discover that this human enzyme is a major cause mutation in cancer. Reuben Harris, a professor of biochemistry, molecular biology and biophysics based in the College of Biological Sciences and is also a member of the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota.
Harris believes that APOBEC3B is a biological "double-edged sword" that protects some cells from viruses such as HIV and produces mutations that give rise to cancer in others.
Harris hopes to find a way to block APOBEC3B from mutating DNA, just as sunscreen blocks mutations that lead to melanoma. It's also possible that a simple test for APOBEC3B could be used to detect cancer earlier.
The study was published in the journal Nature Genetics.
No comments:
Post a Comment