The protein that fuels 3 out of 4 cancers has been controlled

Cancer-causing protein bound and blocked

In a discovery that can one day revolutionize cancer treatment, researchers at the University of California, Riverside have successfully developed a means of controlling MYC, a notoriously slippery protein that causes approximately 75% of all cancers in humans.

What makes MYC different

MYC presents a unique challenge when studying cancer. Normally, this protein plays a vital role in healthy cells. It carefully controls transcription – the process that converts genetic information from DNA and RNA into proteins.

However, cancer changes everything. In cancer cells, MYC becomes a destructive force. It operates in overdrive mode with no regulation whatsoever.

Professor Min Xue, who led the research team, explains it simply: “MYC is less like food for cancer cells and more like a steroid. It drives cancer’s aggressive growth.” This superactive behavior makes MYC involved in three out of every four cancer cases.

Why MYC is hard to target

Despite its clear role in cancer, targeting MYC has been one of medicine’s biggest challenges. The main problem lies in MYC’s unusual structure – or rather, its complete lack of structure.

Professor Xue describes the protein as “basically a glob of randomness.” This means conventional drug discovery methods don’t work. These traditional approaches rely on sharply defined protein structures. MYC simply doesn’t have one.

A New Approach to Fighting MYC

The UCR research team developed a clever solution. They designed a special peptide molecule that could selectively bind to MYC. More importantly, this peptide could block MYC’s destructive activity.

The key was fine-tuning two specific features: the peptide’s stiffness and its shape. Through careful adjustments, researchers achieved something remarkable. They reached “sub-micro-molar affinity” – meaning their peptide binds as strongly as antibodies do.

Breakthrough results

This accomplishment represents a major leap beyond previous attempts. The researchers enhanced their peptide’s binding strength by two orders of magnitude. This dramatic improvement brings the work significantly closer to practical drug development goals.

The research opens new possibilities for treating the vast majority of cancers where MYC plays a destructive role.

The researchers are presently optimizing peptide-delivery systems based on lipid nanoparticles that deliver the peptide effectively into cancer cells. The National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Defense funded the study, which appeared in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
This research offers renewed hope against cancer, and it can potentially open a door to more effective cancer therapies for most cancer patients worldwide.

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