Gene Discovered That Could Help Treat Glioblastoma
A team of scientists from a research institute affiliated with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA, has found that a gene responsible for regulating circadian rhythms represents a potential target that, when affected, could combat a deadly form of brain cancer – glioblastoma. In a recent study, the results of which were published in the journal Scientific Reports, they established that a subtype of a certain gene, more commonly associated with circadian rhythm, contributes to the survival of cancer cells.
“Scientists around the world are actively searching for new treatments for glioblastoma, but none of them have yet considered this gene as a potential basis for developing effective therapy,” says the lead author of the project, Professor Zhi Sheng from the research institute at Virginia Tech. His team of scientists accurately identified the necessary gene from twenty that could potentially influence the development of brain tumour cells.
“We discovered that by suppressing this gene, we can block the self-renewal process of cancer stem cells and their transformation into glioblastoma cells, which we believe could be key in the fight against this extremely resistant type of oncology,” explained Professor Sheng, who is also an associate professor at the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. “Of course, before we can develop a new treatment method, several more studies will be needed, but the current results look promising.”
According to him, new therapeutic methods for patients with glioblastoma are urgently needed. Most patients die within a year and a half of diagnosis. And 90% of those who manage to live more than two years experience a recurring tumour, which in most cases cannot be eradicated through additional surgical intervention. This form of oncology, which accounts for nearly half of all malignant brain tumours, recently claimed the life of American Senator John McCain.
As Dr. Sheng notes, cancer can recur if even a few hundred glioblastoma stem cells remain in the patient's body after surgical removal of the tumour, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. In their experiments conducted on cell cultures and laboratory mice infected with glioblastoma, researchers found that if the action of the enzyme encoded by the gene of the casein kinase-1 family is suppressed, the proliferation of brain cancer stem cells stops and the process of tumour formation is blocked.
At the same time, the scientists emphasized that this enzyme rather controls the efficiency of self-renewal of glioblastoma stem cells than their differentiation. “Blocking this gene will effectively destroy the tumour stem cells,” concluded Dr. Sheng.
The scientists also studied two existing market drugs that block the casein kinase-1 gene, preventing the activation of circadian rhythms. One of them, it turned out, could potentially serve as a chemical suppressor of glioblastoma stem cells – researchers plan to study it in more detail.