Anti-cancer therapy shows promise

A new generation of drugs designed to target cancer cells more specifically and avoid such side effects as temporary hair loss, is being developed as part of an award-winning EU project.The new line in anti-cancer therapy blocks the molecular motors involved in copying genetic information during cell division and tries to stop tumor development by interfering with the molecular motors that copy DNA during cell division.

The new line in anti-cancer therapy blocks the molecular motors involved in copying genetic information during cell division and tries to stop tumor development by interfering with the molecular motors that copy DNA during cell division.

This process cuts off the genetic information flow that tumours need to grow, and could complement existing cancer therapies.

Dutch researcher Dr Nynke Dekker and her team are leading the project, which is sponsored by the European Science Foundation and the European Heads of Research Councils.

She is focusing on an enzyme called Topoisomerase IB that plays a key role in some of the molecular motors involved in the processes of DNA and RNA copying during cell division.

These are responsible for reading the genetic code and making sure it is encoded correctly in the daughter cell. In healthy cells it is important that this process works normally, but in cancer cells it is a natural target for disruptive therapy.

She said: "Specifically targeting these molecular motors in cancer cells would then prevent the cancer cells from growing into a larger tumor."

This molecular copying machinery, constructed mostly out of proteins, in effect walks along the DNA double helix reading the genetic code so that it can be copied accurately into new DNA during division.

Other components of the machinery are responsible for slicing and assembling the DNA itself. All of these are potential targets for anti-cancer therapy, providing it is possible to single out the tumor cells. Most existing chemotherapy targets all dividing cells, and the aim to find more sensitive techniques.

Dekker is to receive an award for her work in this field in Helsinki, Finland on 27 September 2007 with other 19 young researchers.

The European Young Investigator Awards scheme is designed to attract outstanding young scientists from around the world to create their own research teams at European research centres and launch potential world-leading research careers.

Most awards are between Euro 1,000,000 and €1,250,000, comparable in size to the Nobel Prize.