A PROTEIN has been discovered which could have major implications for cancer treatments, it emerged last night. Researchers at the University of Dundee described the find as “molecular scissors” which repair damaged DNA in human cells, helping to prevent mutations leading to cancer.
The protein at the centre of the development is known as FAN1 and is present in each cell.
Yesterday, one of the experts behind the discovery explained how it might help further research against the killer disease.
John Rouse, of the university’s renowned College of Life Sciences, said the findings helped unlock a “major part of the puzzle”.
He added: “The DNA in our cells is like an instruction manual for the proper working of each cell.
“A major problem is that DNA becomes damaged regularly. If DNA damage is not fixed quickly then these instructions are changed and the result is mutations – undesirable changes in DNA – that can cause the cell to become abnormal.
“This is essentially what causes cancer.
“However, cells are very good at recognising when DNA has become damaged and they are good at finding DNA damage and repairing it.
“For example, cells can quickly detect breakages in DNA and quickly fix these breaks. Many different factors help this process but we still haven’t identified all of them or exactly how this process works. FAN1 carries out this task, and in this sense it acts like a ‘molecular scissors’.”
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