2 February 2001
Scottish Scientists find crucial cancer cure inside a frog's eggs
CANCER Research Campaign scientists in Scotland have shed new light on the
body's defences from cancer by studying the eggs of an African frog.
The giant eggs of the pipid frog were used by Campaign-funded researchers
at the University of Dundee because, thanks to their size, they are
perfect for finding out what happens inside our cells.
And, in a report published in February's issue of Nature Cell Biology*,
the researchers describe how the eggs have helped them to discover a
mechanism that may normally prevent cancer from developing. The team hope
that its discovery could lead to new life-saving treatments for the
disease.
Dr Julian Blow, leading the Campaign team, says: "Cancer happens when
cells divide out of control. Thanks to our remarkable frog eggs, we've now
found a vital switch that normally stops this from happening, but which
may go wrong when cancer develops.
"We're really excited by the discovery, because if we could prove that
the switch goes wrong in cancer, and
find out how this happens, it might lead to new drugs to protect our cells
from the disease."
The researchers think the switch controls the crucial process of copying
genes, which has to happen whenever
a cell divides in two, so that both new cells have the full number of genes.
Gene copying is turned on and off by a molecule called geminin. When
geminin is present inside cells, the
process is switched off. But removing the molecule switches gene copying
back on and gives cells the
all-clear to divide.
Losing geminin altogether could be a crucial stage in the development of
cancer, since it would leave the way open to uncontrolled cell growth. So
if doctors could design drugs that worked like geminin to prevent cell
division, they could improve the prospects of cancer patients.
Prof Gordon McVie, Director General of The Cancer Research Campaign, says:
"Dr Blow's work is important because it gives us vital information about
the kinds of changes that go on inside our cells when cancer develops.
"Geminin could be an important template for a radically new approach to
controlling cancer.
"And this research is just one of the imaginative ways in which The Cancer
Research Campaign is tackling cancer."
Ends
For media enquiries contact The Cancer Research Campaign press office on
020 7487 3768 or (out-of-hours) on 0468 992 023.
Note to editors
The pipid frog is known by scientists as Xenopus and is extremely useful
for studying how cells grow and develop.
Kerry Noble
Press Officer (Science)
The Cancer Research Campaign
10 Cambridge Terrace, London. NW1 4JL
Tel: 020 7317 5144 Fax: 020 7935 1546
Email: knoble@crc.org.uk Web: http://www.crc.org.uk