Researchers at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have identified that the major cancer-related protein, Akt, can take on two separate shapes that can respond to different cancer fighting drugs each in unique ways. Akt belongs to one of the most commonly activated pathways in cancer, however trials conducted to test Akt inhibitors have had mixed results and has not led to an FDA approved drug.
“If Akt is activated by one mechanism, you might need drug A, whereas if it’s activated by the other mechanism, you might need drug B” says Philip Cole, MD, PhD, professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at HMS and professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “Part of the reason nothing has had dramatic effect could be these different mechanisms of Akt activation.”
These differences could lead to the development of new cancer drugs and treatment strategies.
Read more:https://hms.harvard.edu/news/tale-two-structures
Journal article:https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(18)30897-3
source: Corina Marinescu
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