By Maureen McArthur

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A University of Kentucky pharmacology researcher will present his latest findings about the critical roles of NM23 proteins in cancer at the Third International Congress of the Genetics, Biochemistry and Physiology of NM23/Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinases from Sept. 20-22 in Bordeaux, France.

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NM23 proteins were identified first at the National Institutes of Health about 15 years ago as proteins that were lost as cancer cells became more malignant. NM23 proteins are now known to be key players in many different cancers, most notably breast and colon cancer and melanoma.

In many tumors, genes that direct the production of growth factor proteins are overactive, leading to uncontrolled growth and cancer.

Many researchers are examining what causes these genes to be overactive. Kaetzel’s research group is one of the few that studies the "silencer elements" for these genes. Silencer elements are small stretches of DNA located near the growth factor genes that, when bound with appropriate protein factors, keep these genes in check.

Kaetzel has discovered that NM23 proteins readily bind to silencer elements of growth factor genes and may be important for their gene-checking functions. This discovery helps explain how the frequent loss of NM23 proteins in cancer cells causes tumors to become more malignant – such cells may have lost the ability to keep their growth factor genes under control.

According to the American Cancer Society, about 563,100 Americans will die of cancer in 1999. Breast cancer, colon cancer and melanoma will account for about 175,000 new cases and 43,400 deaths, 94,700 new cases and 47,900 deaths, and 44,200 new cases and 7,300 deaths, respectively.

Research such as Kaetzel’s slowly is unraveling the many molecular events that lead to cancer. The answers provided by this basic research eventually may lead to new therapies or diagnostic tools for cancer.