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Cancer biologists discover a new mechanism for an old drug

MIT News
Summary
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82% Informative

A new study from MIT has found that in cancers of the colon and other gastrointestinal cancers, it actually kills cells by interfering with RNA synthesis.

Usually, 5 -fluorouracil is given in combination with chemotherapy drugs that damage DNA.

Instead, combining 5-FU with drugs that affect RNA synthesis could make it more effective in patients with GI cancers.

A molecule that inhibits KDM2A , a suppressor of ribosome production, helped to boost the rate of cell death in colon cancer cells treated with 5-FU .

The researchers are exploring how this ribosomal RNA damage leads cells to under programmed cell death, or apoptosis.

They hypothesize that sensing of the damaged RNAs within cell structures called lysosomes triggers an apoptotic signal.

VR Score

86

Informative language

88

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58

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semi-formal

Language

English

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55

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Time-value

long-living

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1

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