Lung cancer proteins may be drug targets

BOSTON, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they've identified proteins that allow them to distinguish between cancer and normal cells with 97 percent accuracy.

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine and the Boston University Biomedical Engineering Department said in addition they've developed a computational strategy to identify key biological pathways that are active in cancer and "dormant" in normal cells.

The scientists said their findings will ultimately lead to the development of drugs specifically aimed to inhibit such cancer proteins.

Much of the cellular machinery involved with such biological processes is controlled by a command control and communication system called signal transduction, which is mainly controlled by a process called phosphorylation. When a protein is phosphorylated it either becomes active or repressed depending on its special function.

"Therefore, identifying the phosphorylation status of proteins in cancer cells versus normal cells provides us with a unique ability to understand and perhaps intervene with the command and control center of cancer cells," said co-senior study author Professor Simon Kasif.

The researchers said a drug that would target this collection of proteins would be effective treatment for most lung cancers.

"This is the first statistically validated phosphopeptide signature to diagnose any disease, much less cancer or lung cancer," added senior co-author Dr. Martin Steffen.

The research appears in the Nov. 25 issue of the online journal PLoS One.