Barcelona’s Vall d’Hebron Hospital discovers the essential role of a protein for colorectal cancer cell division

Barcelona (ACN) – Scientists from the Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Research Centre for Nanomedicine (CIBBIM-Nanomedicine) at Barcelona’s Vall d’Hebron Research Institute have found the effects of a protein called condensin on the cell division in cases of colorectal cancer. This protein helps the tumour cells to divide rapidly, so the inhibition of condensin leads to the death of tumour cells. According to the researchers, the applications of this discovery focus on its properties as a possible marker of tumour growth and as a therapeutic target in colorectal cancer. The research results were published in the ‘Journal of Biology and Chemistry’.

The study reported that this protein is directly regulated by the WNT pathway, the main molecular pathway involved in colorectal cancer.

The results of the research project also show that the WNT pathway increases the expansion of condensins, proteins with a role in chromosome condensation and essential for the rapid division of tumor cells.

The CIBBIM-director of Nanomedicine, Dr. Simon J. Schwartz, explained that the role of these proteins “has been shown to work the other way round in animals, i.e, they have blocked these condensins and its inhibition has led to a rapid tumour cell death”.

This study identifies precisely how tumour cells use condensins for their own benefit, such as the production of this protein in colorectal tumours.