Researchers at Univ. of Texas find a mechanism that could be beneficial in treating cancer

There was an interesting study that was published recently in Science Magazine. Two researchers at the University of Texas at Austin found a novel regulatory mechanism in cancer cells isolated from an anaplastic large cell lymphoma patient. This discovery could be a beneficial step in treating cancer.

In the study they found a partner protein, ARNT, that interacts with CD30. CD30 is present in high amounts in certain lymphomas. Why is this important? CD30, at high levels, continually activates five cellular proteins which lead to cell proliferation which thus is thought to lead to cancer. The researchers found that ARNT has an ability to shut down CD30 which in turn could shut down the five cellular proteins and this could shut down cell proliferation.

This is an important step in possibly stopping cancerous cells from forming but I must note that it is a very initial discovery but at the same time it is still exciting.