A compound that blocks signalling from a protein implicated in many types of cancer has been developed by scientists. Researchers at New York University's Department of Chemistry and NYU Langone Medical Center examined signalling by receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK).
Abnormal RTK signalling is a major underlying cause of various developmental disorders and diseases, including many forms of cancer.
RTK signalling pathway employs interactions between proteins Sos and Ras, and accounts for a broad range of molecular changes that underlie various cancers and other diseases.
Disrupting the Sos-Ras interaction, then, is crucial to stemming the production of cancer cells.
However, interactions between large protein molecules such as Ras and Sos have been difficult to modulate with artificial means.
Through a series of experimental and computational analyses, the scientists hypothesized that by mimicking a key portion of Sos, they might disrupt its interactions with Ras.
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The researchers note that synthetic Sos may offer a lead for the creation of pharmaceuticals that can block Sos-Ras interaction.
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Source-ANI