Cancer can be choked to death

Washington, December 9 (ANI): A team of American researchers is trying to develop a technique to kill off cancer by choking it.

Dr. Ze'ev Ronai, who is leading the research project at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, has found that tumours deprived of oxygen activate a transcription factor called HIF-1a, which help them compensate and survive.

The researcher says that inhibiting HIF-1a can cause tumours to experience oxygen deprivation due to insufficient blood flow.

Dr. Ronai's laboratory has already shown proof of this concept by inhibiting PHD3, a regulator of HIF-1a.

He says that binding of short protein fragments to PHD3 results in HIF-1a degradation, and halts growth of metastatic tumors in mice.

He and his colleagues are presently trying to determine how small molecule compounds might accomplish the same task. (ANI)