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hey cyb-sibs this isn't specifically pd, but anything to do with apoptosis [programmed cell death] and genetic research catches my attention janet --------------------------------------------------------------------- Cell Suicide Gene Linked to Metastasis --------------------------------------------------------------------- LONDON (Reuters) -- Israeli scientists said on Wednesday they had found a new type of enzyme that is linked to the ability of cancer cells to replicate and spread to other organs in the body. Although it is only one of many factors involved in the development of the killer disease, the scientists said that if further tests were successful it could have long-term applications for diagnosis or in gene therapy. Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel -- writing in the scientific journal Nature -- said the DAP kinase enzyme regulated the death and growth of cancer cells. "When tumour cells lose that kinase they become more aggressive and metastasise. When the normal levels of the kinase are restored by genetic manipulations, we can reduce the metastatic properties of the cells," Adi Kimchi, one of the researchers, said in a telephone interview. The scientists isolated the DAP kinase gene two years ago using a new gene-cloning technique. Their latest research on lung carcinoma clones isolated from mice showed that the DAP kinase is linked to apoptosis, the natural process of cell death. Cancerous tumours develop when cells lose their ability to recognise apoptosis signals and divide uncontrollably. When the malignant cells spread to distant parts of the body via the blood or the lymphatic system and set up a secondary tumour it is called metastasis. "We propose that DAP kinase may control apoptosis at early stages of metastasis, such as detachment from the original tumour and transport in the circulation," Kimchi said. The next step will be to see if the DAP kinase works the same way in human tumours. Kimchi and her colleagues believe DAP kinase could be a potential tumour suppressor gene because it slowed tumour activity whenever it was introduced back into the cells that had lost the kinase. "We are offering another candidate, another tumour suppressor gene, but these are very long-term goals that depend very much on basis research," she added. "It comes together with a variety of other genetic defects which take place during tumour formation." 1997, Reuters Health eLine <http://www.medscape.com/reuters/thu/t111210f.html> --------------------------------------------------------------------- janet [log in to unmask]