Thenjippalam(Kerala): In a major breakthrough in cancer research, a Kerala scientist has identified a gene which prevents development of cancer cells.
Dr P Arun of Thenjippalam in Malappuram district, who works at the Mayo Clinic in the US, discovered that Cyclin A2– the protein that regulates the cell cycle —does double duty. The study was published in the latest issue of Science.
The researchers found that in addition to the role as an RNA binding protein to coordinate DNA duplication during cell division, Cyclin A2 also plays a role in establishing the machinery that fixes cancer-causing DNA replication errors. Cyclin A2 is a first example of a protein that binds to RNA to control the production of a single protein,Mre11, a key DNA repair protein.
Arun’s co-researcher Jan van Deursen said in a note that since disruption or deregulation of the cell cycle is a common cause in the development of cancer, researchers have been interested in understanding this process in the greatest detail in the hope to use this knowledge to develop new medicines to treat human cancers.
Arun has been working as a research scientist at Mayo Clinic after taking PhD from New Zealand Victoria University. He is son of former Calicut University staff P Jayanidas and Nirmala. His wife Anajli also works with Mayo.
source : Mathrubhoomi