DNA repair discovery could lead to better cancer therapies
8 July 2010
A protein called FAN1 that acts like a pair of molecular scissors to repair damaged DNA in body cells has been discovered by scientists working at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Protein Phosphorylation Unit, based at the University of Dundee. The discovery, published this week in Cell, could have major implications for the development of future cancer treatments.
The DNA in the cells of our bodies is regularly damaged throughout our lives, but if this damage is not repaired quickly, mutations can develop. These cell mutations cause cancer. Usually, healthy cells quickly recognise and repair DNA damage and during this process produce left over fragments of DNA that must be trimmed for the repair to be successful. The recently discovered protein FAN1 carries out this task, acting like a pair of ‘molecular scissors’, trimming the leftover DNA. The protein is present in every cell and plays a vital role in maintaining healthy DNA. Without FAN1 the cells would be unable to repair DNA damage properly, eventually causing the cell to die.
Dr John Rouse, a programme leader at the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit who discovered FAN1 said: “Our findings have unlocked a major part of the puzzle of DNA repair. If we can develop drugs that prevent this newly discovered protein, FAN1, from helping cancer cells to repair DNA damage, we could dramatically increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy.”
“Cancer cells can often become resistant to chemotherapy because they become better at repairing the DNA damage caused by chemotherapy treatments. We hope that by eventually creating drugs to target FAN1, we might dampen down the cancer cells’ ability to repair themselves and so potentially reverse resistance to chemotherapy.”
Most of the work on FAN1 was carried out by Craig Mackay, an MRC PhD student in Dr Rouse’s team.
One of the MRC’s key aims is to improve our understanding of cell damage and repair and determine how these processes can eventually lead to diseases such as cancer. The ongoing work of the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit is instrumental in building this knowledge and using it to guide the development of new and more potent treatments for patients.
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