Cancer cells become deadly when they proliferate uncontrollably and overwhelm their healthy neighbors. Last July, biologists at University College London and Florida State University collaborated to tease out a crucial detail of how the process unfolds. The researchers identified a new gene, dubbed “Mahjong,” that determines whether the cancerous cells gain the upper hand.
The researchers began by investigating a gene called Lgl, which normally suppresses tumor growth. Mutant forms of Lgl allow cancerous cells to reproduce unchecked. To understand that process, the Florida State group engineered a fruit fly to produce a mix of cells, some with normal Lgl and some with the altered version. But the mutants actually lost out to the normal cells every time.
Evidently, mutant Lgl is dangerous only when it receives some kind of boost, and the British team isolated that boost: the Mahjong gene. This gene makes a protein that interacts with Lgl ...
