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Discovery of a new mechanism of gene control that is associated with cancer

By 17 de June de 2011November 18th, 2020No Comments
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 17.06.2011

Discovery of a new mechanism of gene control that is associated with cancer

Researchers headed by Joan Massagué at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York and by María Macías at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) –based in Barcelona Scientific Park– have identified a complex mechanism by which some proteins that are essential for life, called Smads, regulate the activity of genes associated with cancer.


The fruit of three years of intense work, the study reports on the life cycle of this protein, a process that ensures that the protein is destroyed when it has completed its function. These results have been published today in the top journal Genes & Development, which has devoted its cover to this research.

In the TGF-beta/Smad signal cascade, the hormones TGF-beta and BMP transmit information to the Smad protein in the cell nucleus in order for this molecule to stop cell division and to ensure that tissues grow in an orderly and coordinated manner. Although the TGF-beta/Smad signalling pathway has been known for over twenty years, until now it was unclear how Smads temporally controlled the activity of such important genes.

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