It is found that p38 γ protein is very important for the initiation of cell division of hepatocytes

Recently, in a new study published in the journal Nature, Guadalupe Sabio of CNIC and his team found that p38 γ protein, one of the four types of p38 kinase, is essential for the initiation of cell division of hepatocytes Sabio said this suggests that p38 γ may be a useful therapeutic target for liver cancer, and they are now developing inhibitors of the protein to test the cancer Sabio has a long-term interest in the p38 protein family, which is activated in stressed cells Now, in this new study, her team has confirmed that p38 γ plays an important role in the initiation of cell division in the liver In laboratory studies that looked at this similarity to CDK, the researchers found that CDK2 inhibitors also reduced p38 γ activity They also found that p38 γ and CDK2 both act on a tumor suppressor protein that plays an important role in regulating cell cycle Sabio said the results may be applicable to human liver cancer patients Indeed, studies conducted with researchers at the University of Salamanca in Spain have shown that p38 γ levels increase with the development of liver fibrosis Liver fibrosis occurs before liver cancer, and more often in liver cancer patients These results suggest that in the future, it is possible to use drugs targeting p38 γ (http:// to treat such cancers The advantage of targeting p38 γ is that the enzyme seems to control the initiation of cell cycle in response to stress, so inhibition of this process will not affect the proliferation of tissues, such as intestinal lining or hair follicles.