Cell Structure Helps Direct Cancer Gene 'Switch'

Cell Structure Helps Direct Cancer Gene 'Switch'
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 14 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. scientists say theyhave uncovered a biological "switch" for key genes in cancer cells.
They found that genes in cancer cells are silenced by distinct changesin the density of structures called nucleosomes within the cells.
"The study shows for the first time exactly how genes get shut down incancer cells. It identifies what the target looks like, so that newtherapies can be designed to turn them back on," study lead author PeterA. Jones, director of the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center andDistinguished Professor at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, said in aprepared statement.
According to a statement from the university, "The study showed thatsilencing of transcription start sites in some cancer cells involvesdistinct changes in nucleosomal occupancy -- or the density ofnucleosomes -- in the cell."
A process called "DNA cytosine methylation -- the addition of a groupof specific chemicals to a stretch of DNA that can lock or silence agene -- may ultimately lead to [gene] silencing by enabling the stablepresence of nucleosomes at the start sites of cancer-related genes," therelease said.
The study was published in the Nov. 13 issue of the journal CancerCell.
More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about cancer.