Discovery of tenovins could lead to cancer cure

May 6 2008

Scientists in Scotland have discovered a group of chemicals which protect one of the body's most important anti-cancer genes from destruction.

Their research has revealed that chemicals, called tenovins, form a protective shield around the p53 gene, known as ‘the guardian of the genome’, which is either switched off or impaired in many cancers.

The researchers from St Andrews and Dundee Universities, believe tenovins have the potential to stop tumours and could be used to develop effective new cancer treatments.

The researchers led by Dr. Sonia Lain from Dundee University say the p53 gene stops the growth of damaged cells, either by triggering their death, or prompting DNA repair and is activated by DNA damage.

While some drugs already in use trigger p53's anti-cancer activity by damaging DNA, inflicting this damage in itself carries a risk.

The researchers found that tenovins play a key role in preventing the body from breaking down p53 as part of its natural recycling process and they do so by blocking enzymes which target the gene for destruction.

The theory is that this ability could be harnessed by new anti-cancer drugs to boost levels of p53 and therefore its cancer fighting potency, in the body.

The drugs are potentially more effective and safer than current alternatives.

The discovery of the tenovins was made as a result of an investigation into the properties of a library of 30,000 drug-like compounds and Dr. Lain says their research indicates that tenovins have the potential to stop tumours.

Dr. Lain says tenovins work by inhibiting enzymes called sirtuins which clip off a crucial chemical group from p53, leading to its destruction and they hope that targeting sirtuins with drugs could treat many different cancers in the future.

The study was jointly funded by Tenovus Scotland, Cancer Research UK, and the University of Dundee.

Co-author, Dr Nick Westwood from the School of Chemistry at the University of St Andrews, says the project is a good example of what can be done when researchers from different disciplines collaborate on a programme which successfully combines skills in cell and cancer biology, biochemistry, genetics and chemistry to deliver compounds of genuine therapeutic interest.

The study was jointly funded by Tenovus Scotland, Cancer Research UK, and the University of Dundee, and appears in the journal Cancer Cell.