Scientists in Singapore and Spain have gained new insight into the activity of a tumor-suppressor in fruit flies that could aid the understanding of some human cancers. The study could lead to new cancer treatments.
The Institute for Research in Biomedicine from the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, the Genome Institute of Singapore, and the Duke-NUS Medical School collaborated to investigate Parafibromin. The normal activities of Parafibromin prevent tumors from developing, but deficiencies in these activities have been linked to a number of cancers. The role of theprotein in health and disease has remained a mystery.
Although fruit flies and humans seem very different, researchers often find that important pathways, signaling and control systems are shared across many species.
Dr. Deng Qiannan is the first author of the study and a research fellow with the Neuroscience and Behavioral.
According to Dr. Cayetano Gonzalez, a co-author of the study and Head of the Cell, Parafibromin may perform a similar function in humans as it does in the flies.
Stem cells that generate mature nerve cells have an asymmetric organization of proteins. The overgrowth of neural stem cells was caused by the loss of hyrax function. Influences on cell structures called centrosomes, which coordinate cell division, and the regulation of two other known tumor-suppressor proteins, Polo and Aurora-A, were linked to this.
Professor Wang Hongyan said that loss of cell polarity and centrosomal abnormality are hallmarks of human cancer. It may be relevant for understanding the role of Parafibromin in human cancers.
More research is needed to find out if the findings in fruit flies can be used to treat Parafibromin in humans.
Medical research aims to translate basic scientific research into discoveries of clinical significance. Professor Wang and her colleagues have taken a very interesting first step that could have an impact on cancer treatment and prevention in the future.
More information: Qiannan Deng et al, Parafibromin governs cell polarity and centrosome assembly in Drosophila neural stem cells, PLOS Biology (2022). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001834 Journal information: PLoS Biology
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