Study finds a potential new way to target and destroy proliferating tumors

摘要

Scientists have discovered a potential alternative strategy for killing fast growing cancer cells. RAF kinase is an enzyme that plays a role in cell division. It causes the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (MEK) and extracellular signal regulated kindase (ERK), which leads to cell proliferation and has been found to have a role in tumor growth. Current drugs used to reduce tumor growth are ATP-competitive RAF inhibitors, interacting with the active site of the RAF enzyme altering its structure. However, these drugs are often not specific to the RAF enzyme, interacting off target, additionally they can lead to dose-limiting toxicity and tumor cells can develop resistance to this class of drugs, rendering them inactive against the cancer. This highlights the need for a new treatment strategy.