Cancer is society’s silent killer. We never know when it will strike, and when it does, it’s absolutely deadly. What’s unfortunate is that a potential drug for curing cancer is said to be able to trigger more than half of all cancers. This potentially fatal side effect has been discovered by the researchers from Johns Hopkins by studying demethylating drugs. It is a known fact that a method called hypermethylation makes cancerous cells in the body by disrupting key biological functions. Hypermethylation occurs by increasing the amount of chemical bonds on cancer promoting genes. The method called demethylation causes the reverse reaction – cleaving off all the extra bonds formed on the genes. However, as this research has found, patients using drugs which cause this demethylation reaction may be at risk for acquiring tumours. This ultimately tells us that gene activity can be affected by factors other than actual change in the genetic code. Normally, mutagens and other cancer-causing organisms alter protein making pathways by mutating the genetic code. However, as hypermethylation shows, adding extra bonds – and by this, without altering the DNA code – to a “genetic’s on-off switch” or conversely, “ungluing” bonds of the gene may cause cancer. These processes are called epigenetic changes.
To test this theory, the researchers from Johns Hopkins gathered cells from oral tissues and treated them with demethylating drug 5 – azacytidine and observed the amount of genes that were activated by the drug. The results showed that a grand total of “106 genes specific to head and neck cancer… were activated by the demethylation process…” And according to Dr. Califano, the head researcher, “some of the genes regulate growth, others metabolize sugars and some have already been linked to cancer development.” Another interesting development there was a connection between the 106 activated genes in the cells. A gene called BORIS was present in all, coordinating certain proteins and telling them to activate certain genes through the demethylation process, hence signaling the spread of cancer.
Therefore, the epigenetic changes that occur in genes are just as effective as gene mutations when it comes to creating cancer. Epigenetic changes also induce inappropriate activation of cancer-promoting genes, hence processes such as hypermethylation needs to be prevented quickly using effective treatment. More thorough research needs to be done to make demethylating drugs safe for patients to use. Thus, in order to successfully use demethylation therapies, we need a BORIS blocking chemical so that the cancerous side effect can be prevented within cancer patients.
To test this theory, the researchers from Johns Hopkins gathered cells from oral tissues and treated them with demethylating drug 5 – azacytidine and observed the amount of genes that were activated by the drug. The results showed that a grand total of “106 genes specific to head and neck cancer… were activated by the demethylation process…” And according to Dr. Califano, the head researcher, “some of the genes regulate growth, others metabolize sugars and some have already been linked to cancer development.” Another interesting development there was a connection between the 106 activated genes in the cells. A gene called BORIS was present in all, coordinating certain proteins and telling them to activate certain genes through the demethylation process, hence signaling the spread of cancer.
Therefore, the epigenetic changes that occur in genes are just as effective as gene mutations when it comes to creating cancer. Epigenetic changes also induce inappropriate activation of cancer-promoting genes, hence processes such as hypermethylation needs to be prevented quickly using effective treatment. More thorough research needs to be done to make demethylating drugs safe for patients to use. Thus, in order to successfully use demethylation therapies, we need a BORIS blocking chemical so that the cancerous side effect can be prevented within cancer patients.
By 42047135
References:
Science Daily LLC 2009, 'Genetic Changes Outside Nuclear DNA Suspected To Trigger More Than Half Of All Cancers', Science Daily, March 30, [Online], Available: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090324101759.htm [2009, March 30].
For Picture:
'Tackling a hard-to-treat childhood cancer by targeting epigenetic changes' 2008, e! Science News, November 3, [Online], Available: http://esciencenews.com/articles/2008/11/03/tackling.a.hard.treat.childhood.cancer.targeting.epigenetic.changes [2009, March 30].
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