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B cell lymphomas, which occur both in children and adults, arecancers that attack B cells in the immune system. "Our research suggests ways to devise more specific therapiesto selectively kill tumor cells in a subset of lymphomas,"said study leader Andrei Thomas-Tikhonenko, Ph.D., an oncologyresearcher at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The study, conducted in animal cells and human cell cultures,appeared May 1 in The Journal of Clinical Investigation . An oncogene is a type of gene that normally produces a proteinactive in cell growth or regulation. However, when the gene ismutated or otherwise overproduced, it can cause cancer. One familyof oncogenes is called MYC, and the current study focused on howthe MYC oncogene drives B cell lymphoma. MYC codes for Myc, a typeof protein called a transcription factor. At high levels, Myccauses the uncontrolled cell growth that is a hallmark of cancer. The researchers focused on the crucial role of the cell surfacereceptor CD19, a protein residing on the surface of all B cellsthat normally recognizes foreign invaders. "We found that CD19is absolutely required to stabilize the Myc protein," saidThomas-Tikhonenko. "When Myc is stable and present in highlevels, it fuels cancer." Patients with high levels of the Mycprotein are more likely to die of lymphoma. Patients with high levels of Myc also had high levels of CD19, andthe current study describes a previously unknown molecular pathwaythat depends on CD19. It also implicates CD19 as a molecular on-offswitch on that pathway. Usually, said Thomas-Tikhonenko, when youinhibit one pathway, another pathway compensates to produce thesame end result. But in this case, there is no such redundantpathway: "Without CD19, there is no Myc," he added,"so controlling that on-off switch could represent a powerfultool against lymphoma." The findings are particularly relevant, said Thomas-Tikhonenko, tocurrent oncology clinical trials that are testing antibodies thatact broadly against the CD19 receptor. Such antibodies kill all Bcells, and thus weaken the immune system. His study suggests thatunderstanding the CD19 pathway could enable researchers to design amore specific therapy that selectively kills tumor cells whilesparing healthy B cells. Further studies in his lab, he added, will further investigatethese molecular pathways and how to translate this knowledge intofuture anti-cancer treatments. The National Institutes of Health, the V Foundation and the W.W.Smith Charitable Trust supported this study. In addition, aco-author, Elaine Y. Chung, Ph.D., was a fellow of the Leukemia andLymphoma Society. Other co-authors, all from Children's Hospital,were James N. Psathas, Ph.D., Duonan Yu, M.D., Ph.D., Yimei Li,Ph.D., and Mitchell J. Weiss, M.D., Ph.D. I am an expert from szqiangpu.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Home Theaters Projectors Manufacturer , 3D DLP Projector, 3D DLP Projector,and more.
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