Cancer treatment could be boosted by the news that the end parts
of cellular protein templates could have a role in the
development of cancer. The end sections of mRNA have been found
to be pivotal in the process that causes cells to become
cancerous. Researchers discovered that cells in which end
sections of the mRNA were shorter or missing were producing
between two and 40 times more protein than their normal-length
counterparts. Christine Mayr, first author of the Cell paper and
a former postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Whitehead Member
David Bartel, commented: "This end of the mRNA is often not
considered that important because if you put the beginning and
middle of the mRNA into a cell, you get the right protein. "But
now we know that this end often has a protein production
regulatory program and in some cases can play a role in cancer."
In other news, a recent study found that the mortality rates as
a result of cancer have been steadily declining over the past
three decades.