WIKIMEDIA, RAMAA rogue enzyme that causes a number of different human cancers can be stopped in its tracks by two newly discovered small molecules, according to papers published today (April 4) in Science. The molecules bound mutant forms of the enzyme, preventing their aberrant behavior and slowing cancer cell growth in culture. The researchers suggest a similar approach might soon be feasible in patients.
“This is another important step in what so far has been a truly a fascinating story that I hope will ultimately end with a compound that works in the clinic,” said Kenneth Kinzler, a professor of oncology at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, who did not participate in the research.
The story to which Kinzler referred is that of isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH), an enzyme involved in cell metabolism that was recently found to be mutated in a variety of different cancers, including leukemia and glioma, or brain tumor.
IDH is an unusual oncogene, Kinzler said. While most oncogenes simply increase or decrease their activity when mutated, the mutations to IDH give the enzyme an entirely novel function. Using the analogy of a car, ...
