Search This Blog

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Cancer Biology: Keeping Bad Company

It's always fun to learn things are more complex than they appear.

This article describes the p53 gene which is commonly found to be mutated in cancers.

It describes a protein, NRD1, which binds with only with the mutated form, not the normal form.

We don't know why, but when NRD1 binds with mutated p53 in the presence of a particular chemical signal HB-EGF (a growth factor which plays a role in heart development & wound healing), the tumors become more invasive. And typically in tumors, there is abnormal production of HB-EGF.

No comments:

Post a Comment