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Protein Inhibits Cancer Cell Growth The Stagljar lab in collaboration with the Dikic lab from Goethe University in Germany have identified HDAC6 as a novel Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR)-interacting protein. EGFR is nestled into the cell membrane on the surface of human cells where, after it gets activated by molecules called ligands, causes cells to divide. In several cancer cell types, the activity of this receptor is dramatically increased, which stimulates cells to grow rapidly and out of control. Because of its key role in driving the proliferation of cells, EGFR is a target of several cancer drugs currently in development, as well as several approved therapies. To study the cellular role of EGFR in human cells, Stagljar’s lab first developed a technology called MYTH, a unique test that can monitor interactions between membrane proteins. This technology can reveal proteins that tightly associate with EGFR on the cell surface. Using MYTH, the researchers identified more than 80 proteins that interact, and presumably communicate, with the human EGFR. Among them was a cytosolic protein, HDAC6, which they showed helps in stabilizing EGFR in human cells. These findings offer fresh insight into how HDAC6 regulates EGFR degradation and provides clues for the design of improved cancer therapies.  Specifically, a carefully planned combinatorial chemotherapy that inhibits both the EGFR receptor and its newly identified "brake" (HDAC6) could have a beneficial effect for treating breast, lung, colon, and pancreatic cancers. More

Focus on Research Archives: Discovery could lead to more effective cancer treatment. More How our genes remember (or forget) their past experience. More U of T researchers identify proteincontrolling brain formation. More U of T researchers discover new way to fight drug resistant fungal infections. More U of T researchers find switching off protein “thermostat” shuts down deadly fungal disease. More The Hsp90-Antifungal Combo, Please: Compromising Fungi in the Immunocompromised. More Looking Ahead in Cancer Stem Cell Research. More Global Map of SUMO Function revealed by Protein-Protein and Genetic Networks. More The DNA-encoded nucleosome organization of a eukaryotic genome. More A library of yeast transcription factor motifs reveals a widespread function for Rsc3 in targeting nucleosome exclusion at promoters. More Researchers Reveal Epstein-Barr Virus Protein Contributes to Cancer. More Scientists validate the formation of cruciform structures in eukaryotic DNA and identify a cruciform cleaving nuclease. More Scientists in the Department of Molecular Genetics have established that, despite our many differences, the genes that control the development of eyes in humans and flies are remarkably conserved. More In a study published in Molecular Biology of the Cell in September, Dr Wilde’s group defines a signaling pathway from mitotic chromosomes to the cell surface. More Dr. Lori Fappier's research team along with Affinium Pharmaceutical Inc., identify herpesvirus proteins that target key cellular processes. More Guri Giaever's research team demonstrated that nearly all (97%) yeast genes, when deleted, manifest a significant growth phenotype in at least one experimental condition. More Research from the Blencowe lab reveals that humans and chimpanzees differ at the level of alternative splicing .More Igor Stagljar's group developed a novel method for the elucidation of protein-protein interactions called Cross-and Capture. More In a paper in the upcoming issue of Nature Genetics, Corey Nislow's group from the University of Toronto in collaboration with Ron Davis and William Lee at Stanford, has provided a complete, 3-D map of the yeast genome, a Google Earth-like view of the position of all 70,000 nucleosomes in the genome. More Dr. John Roder and colleagues demonstrated for the first time that malfunction of a gene that had been associated with schizophrenia and depression does indeed cause symptoms of those disorders. More Cancer researchers led by Dr. John Dick have developed a method to convert normal human blood cells into “human” leukemia stem cells. More The Stagljar lab developed a unique assay called integrated membrane yeast-two hybrid (iMYTH) that identifies protein-interactors of transmembrane proteins such as the ABC transporters. More