Cancer works like a social network, study says
Scientists discover that cancer cells work a lot like social network and are planning to use this knowledge predict where to effectively aim drugs.
University of Cancer Research London made a map of how cancer proteins interact and found that there are many molecular pathways that interact to affect the development of cancer. Cancer-causing proteins that have already been successfully targeted with drugs tended to have particular ‘social’ characteristics that differ from non-cancer proteins – suggesting that previously unexplored cancer proteins with similar characteristics could also make good drug targets.
‘Hub-like’ proteins which ‘communicate’ with lots of other proteins – like a super-Facebook user with thousands of friends – were more likely to cause cancer.
Study leader Dr Bissan Al-Lazikani, Team Leader in Computational Biology and Cancer Research UK-funded scientist at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said: “Our study is the first to identify the rules of social behaviour of cancer proteins and use it to predict new targets for potential cancer drugs. It shows that cancer drug targets behave very differently from normal proteins and often have a complex web of social interactions, like a Facebook super-user.
“Finding new targets is one of the most important steps in drug discovery. But it can be a lengthy, expensive process. The map that we’ve made will help researchers design better new drugs, more quickly, saving time and money. It also sheds light on how resistance to treatments may occur, and in just a few years could help doctors choose the best drug combinations to suit individual patients.”
Category: Features, Technology & Devices
