Missing protein is double-edged sword in cancer d...( COLUMBUS Ohio The lack of a special p...)

Cells without this protein E2F3 are usually rendered genetically unstable. In most cases, such instability would either kill a cell or keep it from growing. Yet sometimes mutations alter cells in such a way that they are able to thrive and multiply, creating tumors.

"In cancer, the absence or loss of E2F3 may be a double-edged sword," said Gustavo Leone, the study's lead author and an assistant professor in the Human Cancer Genetics Program at Ohio State University's Comprehensive Cancer Center. "In most cases, the absence of E2F3 slows cell division. But the genetic instability created by the missing protein could instead increase the potential that a mutated cell would divide, and the resulting mutated cells could spread throughout the body.

"The loss of E2F3 itself doesn't cause cancer," he continued. "But its absence gives a normal cell the chance to change into a cancer cell."

The research appears in the current issue of the journal Cancer Cell.

E2F3 is part of a family of proteins called transcription factors. They are critical for controlling the entire cell cycle, from formation to death. The protein is responsible for the accurate transmission of genetic
'"/>

Contact: Gustavo Leone
Leone.24@osu.edu
614-688 4567
Ohio State University
22-Apr-2003