Can unravelling tangled DNA be the key to a new cancer cure?
Cancer types:
General cancer research
Project period:
–
Research institute:
University of Crete
Award amount:
£229,100
Location:
Greece
Dr Zachos and his team in Greece are investigating how cells manage to stabilise DNA changes, and if targeting these mechanisms could stop cancer. This important work could one day lead to a completely different type of treatment for people with the disease.
Why is this research needed?
More people are surviving cancer than ever before. But it is still one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The only way we can find new treatments, and better ways to diagnose and prevent the disease, is by digging down and finding out exactly how cancer develops.
One area of huge interest is in understanding how DNA changes in cells are linked to cancer. Thanks to Curestarter funding, Dr George Zachos can now do vital discovery work in this area, leading to a better understanding of how cancer develops, and unearthing brand new ideas for cancer cures.
We have made large strides in the last 30 years and several types of cancer can now be cured. I strongly believe that investing in cancer research can help us make cancer a disease of the past.
What is the science behind this project?
Healthy cells in your body divide millions of times every day, and every time a cell divides, its DNA must also divide. This usually happens without a problem. But sometimes, the long strings of DNA in our cells can become tangled, and form DNA ‘bridges’. This can also happen in cancer cells.
If these bridges are left unsupported they can break, which can be catastrophic for the cell. Both healthy cells and cancer cells get around this problem by stabilising the bridges with specially made molecular ‘patches’. Dr Zachos and his team suspect that preventing cancer cells from patching up DNA bridges could open up a ‘backdoor’ route to kill cancer cells.
They are using specialised molecular techniques to investigate the machinery that cells use to stabilise DNA bridges, and using drugs to stop cancer cells from making molecular patches, then studying if the resulting DNA damage is so severe it kills the cell. To do this the team need to use a new and very strong type of microscope technology – which Curestarter funding has specifically helped to buy.
What difference could this project make to patients in the future?
Overall this study will help us to understand a very important and fundamental mechanism that is central to cancer cell biology, and could also lead to a completely different approach to treating cancer. The more cures that we can develop like this, the fewer lives will be lost to cancer.
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