Can Cancer Be Prevented?

By Cara

Monday, April 5, 2010, 16:15

A new group of molecules, discovered by researchers at the University of East Anglia, could help fight the spread of cancer and other diseases.

The new molecules are synthetic derivatives of a natural product known as UDP-Galactose and a group of enzymes called glycosyltransferases. Glycosyltransferases are used by biological cells to turn simple sugars into elongated sugar chains and branched structures.

The findings could lead to a significant therapeutic advance in the treatment of cancer, inflammation and infection.

Many biological cells (including cancer cells and bacterial cells) are literally covered by a coating of sugar, which influences the way cells communicate with their environment and with each other.

These molecules can potentially be used to interfere with harmful biological processes such as cancer metastasis and bacterial infection. The invention has given the medical world a key to many diseases.

"This exciting discovery of a potent enzyme inhibitor with a completely new mechanism of action has considerable therapeutic potential in cancer, inflammation and infection," said author, Dr. Gerd Wagner.

The results also provide a general strategy for how to design and improve such inhibitors in the future.

The study has been published online by the journal Nature Chemical Biology.