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Researchers discover gene that impacts the development of Ewing sarcoma in children
Researchers have discovered a gene, OTUD7A, that impacts the development of Ewing sarcoma, a bone cancer that occurs mainly in children. They have also identified a compound that shows potential to block OTUD7A protein activity. The finding, by scientists at the University of North Carolina and the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, appeared online June 1, 2021, in
Advanced Science.
About 250 children and young adults are diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma each year in the U.S. About half of those diagnosed will ultimately succumb to the disease, pointing to the need for better therapies.
UNC Lineberger researchers have discovered a gene, OTUD7A, that impacts the development of Ewing sarcoma, a bone cancer that occurs mainly in children. They have also identified a compound that shows potential to block OTUD7A protein activity. Critical relationships between proteins contribute to the development of cancers such as Ewing sarcoma. So, it was a seminal discovery when the UNC researchers found that OTUD7A controls the cancer-causing fusion protein.
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Cancer Drug Shows Potential Against Pseudo SARS-CoV-2 in Lab Tests
Despite the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, treatments are still needed to combat this disease, which has killed millions of people and still kills thousands each day across the world. Scientists at the UNC School of Medicine conducted lab experiments showing how the cancer drug lenalidomide disrupts a cellular pathway in human cells so that pseudo-viruses derived from SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – cannot enter cells to cause infection.
The research, published in a letter to the journal Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, shows the potential of an existing FDA-approved drug to help doctors treat the sickest COVID-19 patients.