RxPG News Feed for RxPG News

Medical Research Health Special Topics World
  Home
 
   Health
 Aging
 Asian Health
 Events
 Fitness
 Food & Nutrition
 Happiness
 Men's Health
 Mental Health
 Occupational Health
 Parenting
 Public Health
 Sleep Hygiene
 Women's Health
 
   Healthcare
 Africa
 Australia
 Canada Healthcare
 China Healthcare
 India Healthcare
 New Zealand
 South Africa
 UK
 USA
 World Healthcare
 
 Latest Research
 Aging
 Alternative Medicine
 Anaethesia
 Biochemistry
 Biotechnology
 Cancer
 Cardiology
 Clinical Trials
 Cytology
 Dental
 Dermatology
 Embryology
 Endocrinology
 ENT
 Environment
 Epidemiology
 Gastroenterology
 Genetics
 Gynaecology
 Haematology
 Immunology
 Infectious Diseases
 Medicine
 Metabolism
 Microbiology
 Musculoskeletal
 Nephrology
 Neurosciences
 Obstetrics
 Ophthalmology
 Orthopedics
 Paediatrics
 Pathology
 Pharmacology
 Physiology
 Physiotherapy
 Psychiatry
 Radiology
 Rheumatology
 Sports Medicine
 Surgery
 Toxicology
 Urology
 
   Medical News
 Awards & Prizes
 Epidemics
 Launch
 Opinion
 Professionals
 
   Special Topics
 Ethics
 Euthanasia
 Evolution
 Feature
 Odd Medical News
 Climate

Last Updated: Oct 11, 2012 - 10:22:56 PM
Research Article
Latest Research Channel

subscribe to Latest Research newsletter
Latest Research

   EMAIL   |   PRINT
Researchers discover inherited mutation for leukemia

May 31, 2007 - 4:00:00 AM
The researchers are now studying the chemical pathway that regulates the gene, considering possible therapies, working to identify other CLL families and looking for other predisposing genes.

 
[RxPG] COLUMBUS , Ohio – Researchers have discovered the first inherited gene mutation that increases a person's risk for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), one of the most common forms of the disease.

The study shows that the inherited mutation greatly reduces the gene's protective activity. Furthermore, a second kind of change occurs later that turns the gene off altogether, leading to leukemia. This latter alteration is a chemical change that is not inherited.

The findings could help identify people at risk for chronic leukemia, but they also may provide new insights into the process of natural cell death. They may even lead to new strategies for treating the disease.

The research is to be published in the June 1 issue of the journal Cell. It was led by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The mutation was found in a gene called DAPK1, which normally helps trigger the death of cells before they become cancerous. Researchers identified the mutation by testing a family in which the father, four sons, a grandson and a distant female relative developed this form of leukemia.

The chemical change is called DNA methylation. Healthy cells use this process to silence unneeded genes. But abnormal DNA methylation can turn off genes that control cell growth, and that lead to tumor growth.

Our findings identify for the first time a gene that appears to be associated with hereditary CLL, says coauthor John C. Byrd, professor of internal medicine and a CLL specialist.

They also show the importance of the gene in the pathogenesis of CLL, and direct us to target this gene with therapies that might re-activate it.

The findings also provide evidence that some genes might contribute to cancer even when they are not silenced entirely.

This inherited change is remarkably subtle, says co-principal investigator Albert de la Chapelle, professor of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics and a researcher with the Ohio State human cancer genetics program. It does not shut down the gene, but just lowers its expression somewhat.

Recently, many cancer geneticists have come to believe that such subtle changes are common causes of cancer, and this is one of the first, strong examples of that principle.

The study succeeded because it combined the field of gene mutation research and the new field of epigenetics, which identifies genes silenced by faulty DNA methylation, says Christoph Plass, professor of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics and of veterinary biosciences, and also co-principal investigator on the study.

Our findings show that it's important to look for both genetic and epigenetic alterations when identifying problem genes, he says.

CLL is the most common form of adult leukemia, with 15,300 new cases and 4,500 deaths from the disease expected this year in the United States. The leukemia is slightly more common in men than women, and typically strikes people who are in their 50s, 60s and 70s.

About 90 percent of CLL cases are sporadic; that is, they have no genetic component.

But about one in 10 people with CLL have relatives who also develop the disease – strong evidence of a hereditary predisposition. However, usually only two or three people within a family are affected, making it difficult to do the genetic studies needed to find possible mutations, Plass says.

The family examined in this research was identified by collaborator Henry Lynch at Creighton University.

The researchers are now studying the chemical pathway that regulates the gene, considering possible therapies, working to identify other CLL families and looking for other predisposing genes.

In 2005, other Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers discovered a germline mutation in a gene for a microRNA that is implicated in CLL, suggesting that this may also be a predisposing mutation for the disease.




Advertise in this space for $10 per month. Contact us today.


Related Latest Research News


Subscribe to Latest Research Newsletter

Enter your email address:


 Feedback
For any corrections of factual information, to contact the editors or to send any medical news or health news press releases, use feedback form

Top of Page

 
Contact us

RxPG Online

Nerve

 

    Full Text RSS

© All rights reserved by RxPG Medical Solutions Private Limited (India)