Tumors, so the diseased cell ‘changes identity’: Italian study

Cells attacked by cancer change face and Italian research has found out how. Scientists from the European Institute of Oncology and the University of Milan have identified “one of the mechanisms underlying the ‘loss of identity’ typical of cancer cells. The process identified – they explain – can be exploited to bring these cells back to normal. “. The work, conducted by the Ieo Department of Experimental Oncology and the State Health Sciences Department, was supported by the Airc Foundation and published in ‘Molecular Cell’. The mechanism discovered – inform Irccs and universities – involves the loss of functionality of a protein called Bap1, which characterizes the development of a group of cancers such as mesotheliomas, uveal melanomas and different types of liver cancer. Bap1 normally plays the role of a tumor suppressor, acting as a controller of the identity of our cells. What all cancer cells lose in part, when they break the barriers imposed by the tissues and the immune system and grow in an uncontrolled way. “Bap1 preserves cellular identity, that is, the organization of our genome within the nucleus of cells, reinforcing the ability of the latter to express only the proteins useful for carrying out specific functions – explains Eric Conway, first signer of the article and holder of an iCare-2 scholarship co-financed by Airc and the European Union – In patients with mutations in the Bap1 gene, these control mechanisms are lacking. This reduces the ability of cells to preserve their identity and favors the acquisition of oncogenic properties “. Simone Tamburri, co-signer of the paper adds: “The description of these fundamental mechanisms has allowed us to identify weak points in the cells that can be exploited to reprogram the identity imbalance generated by the loss of Bap1”. ‘Step forward on the road to precision medicine ‘For more than 10 years – recall from Ieo and UniMi – laboratories all over the world have been filling articles and databases with genomic information that allow an increasingly precise diagnosis for patients. The challenge today is to understand the role of these mutations, describing their molecular details to expand therapeutic strategies and possibilities. “This work is an excellent example of how the detailed study of the fundamental mechanisms that regulate the functioning of our cells and tissues not only increases the knowledge of human biology, in itself however very important, but opens directly to the possibility of identifying new therapeutic strategies to be developed “, comments Diego Pasini, coordinator of the study, leader of the Epigenetic Mechanisms of Cancer Group in the Ieo and associate professor at the University. “Preclinical studies are already planned, both with laboratory animals and with cancer cells obtained from patients, to validate our observations and verify the therapeutic efficacy of the mechanisms we have identified. Our work – he concludes – is one more step towards precision medicine for even the most difficult cancers to treat “.