Nature's cell division study finds new cancer treatment

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report that a protein called CDC7 can actually be replaced by another protein called CDK1, which plays a role in cell division.

Their findings were published in the journal Nature

"The entry of mammalian cells into the DNA synthesis phase (S-phase) represents a critical event in cell division," the researchers wrote

This research provides new insights into one of the most important steps in cell division leading to a new set of targets for future cancer therapy

Based on previous experiments performed mainly in yeast cells, CDC7 is thought to be broadly essential in the key initial steps of cell division

Using a variety of new and established protein removal methods, the researchers made a surprising discovery: Selectively deleting the mouse version of CDC7 in different types of cells might slow or stop cell division, but only A day or two before cell division resumes

This finding elucidates the complex molecular orchestration of the cell cycle and suggests that blocking both CDC7 and CDK1 simultaneously may be a powerful new strategy against cancer

"This work highlights the surprising fact that cells can sometimes achieve redundancy in specific functions through two very different proteins, rather than the two closely related proteins we typically see