Our Discoveries

Human T cell (blue) is under attack by HIV (yellow)

Research shows long noncoding RNA influences expression of key HIV receptor

New research from the Center for Cancer Research has identified a long noncoding RNA that influences the expression of CCR5, a receptor that HIV uses to infect immune cells. The finding points to the molecule as a potential marker that indicates a patient’s susceptibility to the virus.

Live-cell fluorescence imaging showing Rabin8, labeled green, binding to Rab11a, labeled red, minutes after serum starvation in

Akt protein kinase pathway regulates key step in the initiation of cilia formation

CCR investigators have discovered that activating the Akt protein kinase pathway stabilizes the binding of the WDR44 protein to the Rab11 protein. This prevents Rab11 from binding to the Rabin8 protein, thereby blocking cilia formation. When Akt is inactive, though, Rab11 instead is bound by FIP3, enhancing its binding to Rabin8, which helps initiate cilia formation. Since abnormalities in cilia formation are associated with a number of types of cancer, these findings point to several potential targets for cancer therapy.

Bacterial compound targets cancer-promoting RNA

Screening more than 3,000 natural products identified a compound that stops the growth of cancer cells by targeting a growth-promoting microRNA.

Protein mutations lead to human disease by altering a cancer-promoting pathway

Working in collaboration with a team of other scientists, CCR researchers identified the role that the LZTR1 protein plays in disrupting the RAS pathway. It interferes with signaling, largely by dysregulating ubiquitination, a process defined as the attachment of a small protein called ubiquitin to a protein that is degraded by an enzyme.

New therapies tested in mice provide a one-two punch for treating liver cancer

Biopharmaceutical agents that combine the precision of cancer-specific antibodies and the potency of drugs toxic to harmful cells are increasingly being used to treat cancer. A team in CCR has identified two such agents for liver cancer, which were both found to reduce tumor size and prolong survival in mice.

Study reveals function of protein crucial to survival of Staph infections

A team led by Kumaran Ramamurthi, Ph.D.,Senior Investigator in the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, has identified why the GpsB protein is essential for the survival of Staphylococcus aureus, a leading source of infection in cancer patients in hospital settings. These findings, published in eLife, point to GpsB as a possible antibiotic target.

illustration of a collapsed replication fork

Study reveals regions where harmful DNA breaks are most likely to occur

Center for Cancer Research investigators have discovered that double-strand DNA breaks—the most dangerous form of DNA damage, which can lead to cancer—tend to occur during DNA replication at regions known as poly(dA:dT) tracts. Their findings represent a first step toward investigating ways to prevent these harmful DNA breaks.

Committing to cell division may be clue to cancer cell growth

In a new study in Nature, CCR researchers describe, for the first time, how a cell commits to dividing during the cell cycle. Since cancer cells divide when they should not, targeting this pathway might stop their inappropriate growth.

Antibody-linked drug shrinks various types of tumors in preclinical study

A preclinical study by Center for Cancer Research investigators and colleagues shows that a drug guided by an attached target-seeking antibody can recognize cells infiltrating tumors, the tumor stroma, and cause various types of tumors to shrink, and in many cases, disappear. Their findings suggest that when stromal cells take up the ADC, they cleave the drug from the antibody and release it to kill neighboring tumor cells.

Activated platelets can promote tumor cell invasion into healthy tissue

Pre-clinical studies conducted by CCR investigators and colleagues show that platelets, tiny cells that promote blood clotting, when activated by the CD97 protein on the surface of tumor cells, enable the tumor cells to invade healthy tissue and then metastasize. The study, published April 17, 2018, in Cell Reports, was led by Kathleen Kelly, Ph.D., Chief, Laboratory of Genitourinary Cancer Pathogenesis.

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