Researchers have identified a new regulatory mechanism of the tumour-promoting protein LSD1
A recent study by scientists led by Dr Philipp Rathert from the University of Stuttgart opens up new prospects for the development of targeted cancer therapies. The researchers identified NEK6 as a previously unknown regulator of the LSD1 protein, which plays a key role in the development of various types of cancer. The research findings have now been published in the renowned journal *Communications Biology*. The Wilhelm Sander Foundation funded the project with 104,000 euros.
New findings: Acute myeloid leukaemia and chemotherapy cause long-term damage to the nervous system in the bone marrow
Researchers led by Tatyana Grinenko and Martin Bornhäuser from TU Dresden have developed a new method to visualise the 3D architecture of human bone marrow. They investigated changes in the bone marrow caused by acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), a fatal form of blood cancer, and discovered damage to the sympathetic nerve fibres in AML patients, which is exacerbated by chemotherapy. As the sympathetic nervous system controls blood formation, damage to it can impair the production of blood cells. A nerve-protective treatment could open up a new avenue of therapy. The project received €125,000 in funding from the Wilhelm Sander Foundation.
How a lack of oxygen protects cervical cancer cells from chemotherapy
Cervical cancer is the fourth most common malignant tumour in women worldwide. Depending on the stage of the tumour, chemotherapy plays an important role in the treatment of cervical cancer. Researchers led by Prof. Felix Hoppe-Seyler at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg (DKFZ) have now shown that a specific form of oxygen deprivation provides cervical cancer cells with particularly effective protection against chemotherapy. This increased resistance in tumour cells is due to the inhibition of a protein that plays a key role in triggering cell death during chemotherapy. The Wilhelm Sander Foundation has funded the project with €130,000.
Non-melanoma skin cancer: new tumour-suppressing protein discovered in the skin
Non-melanoma skin cancer is by far the most common type of cancer worldwide. Sabine Werner and her team at ETH Zurich have discovered a new tumour-suppressing protein called NRF3 in the skin. In the cancer cells of patients with non-melanoma skin cancer, they found significantly reduced levels of this protein, which increased the malignancy of the cells and promoted the invasive growth of the tumours. Furthermore, they demonstrated that NRF3 exerts its tumour-suppressing effect by interacting with a protein called HSPA5. Inhibiting HSPA5 is therefore a promising option for the treatment of non-melanoma skin cancer. The Wilhelm Sander Foundation has funded the project with €418,000.
New findings on lymph node cancer
As part of a research project funded with €151,000 by the Wilhelm Sander Foundation at the José Carreras Centre of the Department of Internal Medicine I at Saarland University Hospital (UKS), have succeeded in identifying a possible further infectious trigger for Hodgkin’s lymphoma: the bacterium Rothia mucilaginosa. Furthermore, in the case of mantle cell lymphoma, it has been shown that reactivity of lymphoma B-cell receptors against a specific endogenous protein (LRPAP1) is associated with a better prognosis. These findings could also be used in the future to develop new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of lymph node cancer.
Key factor in the onset of acute erythroleukaemia in children identified
Curing acute myeloid leukaemia remains a challenge. This is particularly true of rare, highly aggressive forms such as erythroleukaemia. To better understand the biology of this rare form of leukaemia, researchers led by Prof. Jürg Schwaller at the UKBB investigated a specific genetic alteration that leads to the formation of unique fusion genes and proteins found exclusively in the paediatric form of erythroleukaemia. They have shown that a specific fusion blocks the maturation of blood cells and, together with another mutation, triggers erythroleukaemia. The Wilhelm Sander Foundation provided €170,000 in funding. Published in the journal *Blood*.