Chromatin-regulating enzyme found to be a key driver of common lung cancer
A chromatin-regulating enzyme has been shown by in-depth interdisciplinary investigations to be a key driver of a common type of lung cancer. Drugs that target the enzyme could improve treatment and survival rates for this particular cancer. Squamous cell carcinoma represents nearly one third of all lung cancers in humans, says KAUST structural biologist Lukasz Jaremko, who led the research along with colleagues at Stanford University and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, U.S. Our joint structural and dynamics investigations, including enzymatic activity studies, genetic analyses, and mouse model and human cell results, all point to the enzyme histone-lysine N-methyltransferase (NSD3) as a main driver of cancer, he says.
An interesting new study deals with the effects of the natural mutations in the spike antigen of the SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen that is responsible for the ongoing coronavirus disease pandemic.
Researchers continue to achieve a better understanding of SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. One such effort has been reported in a new preprint on the bioRxiv server, dealing with the phenomenon of backtracking.
The SARS-CoV-2 pathogen successfully uses multiple immune evasion mechanisms to achieve infection within its host. An intriguing new study describes one such process, which may help develop drugs to counteract the virus more effectively.
The main protease of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an enzyme implicated in the transcription and replication of the coronavirus. New research led by S. Samar Hasnain from the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom used the selenium-containing drug Ebselen to analyze the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro).