A team of researchers at the University of Birmingham, in the United Kingdom, has discovered that a type of protein known as proline-rich homeodomain proteins (PRHs) may play a key role in the development of breast cancer. In experiments with mice, these scientists observed that an overexpression of PRH – this can be produced by the presence of too many copies of the same – inhibits the growth of tumors. As indicated in a work published in the journal Oncogenesis , this advance could serve to improve the prognosis of patients suffering from this disease .
Dr. Padma Sheela Jayaraman, from the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences of the aforementioned British institution, who participated in the study, points out in a statement that although the function of PRHs was not well known until now, the activity of the genes that these control and regulate – in essence, they function as a kind of switches – had decreased in many patients with breast cancer. However, it was not known if their PRH protein levels were also lower, as they had not been recorded to date.
To determine this, Jayaraman and his colleagues used a staining system in the tissue obtained during the biopsies that also allowed them to know the location of PRH in cancer cells. “We found that when their levels are lower in tumors, these cells divide more easily, which favors the development of the disease . In addition, we were able to identify some of the genes that are regulated by PRH and that contribute to increased cell division, ”says Jayaraman.
On the contrary, when they increased the amount of PRH they found that high levels of these proteins block the formation of tumors in some types of breast cancer. In fact, these scientists suspect that their initiative could have important implications in the study of other types of cancer , such as prostate or liver, in some of its variants.
Image: NCI
