Scientists Slow Brain Tumor Growth in Mice

Researchers have identified a protein that can be used to slow down or speed up the growth of brain tumors in mice. They report that they have discovered a way to slow tumor growth in a mouse model of brain cancer by altering the process by which genes are converted into proteins. While it was known that the messenger RNA molecules associated with the cancerous cells were shorter than those with healthy cells, the mechanism by which this occurred was not understood. The research team discovered that a protein called CFIm25 is critical to keeping messenger RNA long in healthy cells and that its reduction promotes tumor growth. The key research finding in this study, reported online in the journal Nature, was that restoring CFIm25 levels in brain tumors dramatically reduced their growth. “Understanding how messenger RNA length is regulated will allow researchers to begin to develop new strategies aimed at interfering with the process that causes unusual messenger RNA shortening during the formation of tumors,” said Eric J. Wagner, PhD, of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. To learn more about the study, click here.