Protein found to promote DNA repair

SMITHVILLE, Texas, July 22 (UPI) -- A chromosomal protein that binds to damaged DNA prevents cancer development by enhancing DNA repair, Houston researchers said.

Senior author Karen Vasquez of The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Department of Carcinogenesis at the Science Park -- Research Division in Smithville, Texas, said the protein HMGB1 was previously hypothesized to block DNA repair.

Long known to attach to sites of damaged DNA, the protein was suspected of preventing repair.

"That did not make sense to us, because HMGB1 is a chromosomal protein that's so abundant that it would be hard to imagine cell repair happening at all if that were the case," Vasquez said in statement.

Pinpointing HMGB1's role in repair raises a fundamental question about drugs under development to block the protein, Vasquez said.

"Arthritis therapy involves long-term treatment," Vasquez said. "Our findings suggest that depleting this protein may leave patients more vulnerable to developing cancer."

The findings are published in the report online in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.