Reverting malignant cells to normal state: Novel approach to cancer cure

In a pathbreaking triumph, scientists from?St. Jude Children's Research Hospital?found a key dependency for rhabdoid tumors,?an aggressive?form of?cancer,?and successfully brought back cancer?cells towards?normal?state?rather than?bombarding?them?with toxic therapies?that run the imminent risk of damaging heathy cells.

In the course of?exploring viable options?to treat?rhabdoid tumors caused by the loss of the tumor suppressor protein SMARCB1, an elusive?protein, DCAF5, was?found responsible?for the?missing SMARCB1. Normally, SMARCB1 is a?key?component of a larger chromatin-regulating protein?complex?known as?the SWI/SNF complex.?The study?brought to light the fact?that DCAF5?deemsSWI/SNF abnormal in the absence of SMARCB1?and destroys the complex.?The researchers?demonstrated?that?even after being degraded, the?SWI/SNF?complex?re-forms?and diligently does its job of?opening?chromatin and regulating?gene expression.?Notably,?the SWI/SNF activity level in the absence of SMARCB1 was?found short of?usual,?and yet?it was sufficient to?fully?reverse the cancer state.

Targeting DCAF5?indeed?has the potential to?escape?the toxicity of radiation or chemotherapy,?which could?make?it a?viable?therapeutic?option to cure cancer. Further,?the findings could?also?have implications?beyond DCAF5 for?treating?other cancers driven by the loss of a tumor suppressor.

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