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By Kirsten Houmann, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent
ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A discovery about a multi-purpose protein may lead to new treatments for a particularly deadly form of leukemia.
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The protein glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3) is known to prevent several forms cancer by stopping uncontrolled cell growth. On the other hand, it also curbs the growth of healthy cells -- and new research suggests it may actually fuel the growth of a deadly type of leukemia called mixed-lineage (MLL) leukemia. MLL leukemia accounts for five to 10 percent of all child and adult leukemias and more than three-quarters of infant leukemias.
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine discovered that blocking the activity of GSK3 in MLL cells actually hurt the cancer cells.
The interesting part is if you block this kinase in the cancer cells, the cancer cells basically stop growing, Zhong Wang, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scholar at the Stanford University School of Medicine and co-author of the study, told Ivanhoe. If you can somehow block the activity of this protein, the normal cell will be happier than a cancer cell would be.
The discovery indicates that GSK3 may be a good target for future leukemia drugs. The signal is an especially promising target since attacking it may not only kill cancer cells but also speed up the growth of healthy bone marrow stem cells.
Theoretically, if we have a GSK 3 inhibitor it could act as a double agent -- on one hand, inhibit the leukemia cell, and at the same time, protect the normal cells, Dr. Wang said.
Dr. Wang explained that the next step toward this type of treatment is to understand the molecular function of the problem protein and develop drugs that inhibit its activity.
SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Zhong Wang, Ph.D.;Nature, published online September 17, 2008
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