Researchers at the Mayo Clinic and Harvard Medical School have discovered that a protein thought to ward against the development of cancer can actually cause tumors to spread.
The study revolves around FOXO3a, a transcription factor that acts to regulate gene expression. For years, researchers had believed that activating FOXO3a would help fight cancer growth, which naturally becomes active when cancer cells are deprived of nutrients. But the current research indicates that as cancer cells starve the protein “flips” molecular switches that enable the cancer cells to invade surrounding healthy tissues.
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The study revolves around FOXO3a, a transcription factor that acts to regulate gene expression. For years, researchers had believed that activating FOXO3a would help fight cancer growth, which naturally becomes active when cancer cells are deprived of nutrients. But the current research indicates that as cancer cells starve the protein “flips” molecular switches that enable the cancer cells to invade surrounding healthy tissues.
Read the FULL PRESS RELEASE
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