Leicester Scientist to Lead Way in New Approach to Cancer Mystery

A leading cancer scientist based at the University of Leicester has been given a grant from the Association for International Cancer Research (AICR) to help answer one of the most fundamental questions that has baffled researchers over the centuries – how to stop cancer cells from dividing and spreading.

Dr Andrew Fry is studying a protein molecule called Nek2, which is involved in one of the key steps in cancer cell division. Cells carry all their crucial genetic information on structures called chromosomes and, before a cell can divide, all the chromosomes have to be duplicated, so there is one of each for each of the two new cells.Dr Fry, who is based in the Department of Biochemistry, explains that there is considerable interest amongst cancer researchers in how cells control the duplication of chromosomes:”Duplicating a chromosome requires a whole range of different protein molecules and each of them has to be present at exactly the right time and then absent for the rest of the time. To make this whole process work efficiently, cells have a mechanism for destroying protein molecules, as soon as they are no longer required. Nek2 is part of this protein destruction system.””We know that cancer cells have a higher level of Nek2 than normal cells, and that they duplicate their chromosomes more frequently, but we do not know if these two things are related. There are still huge gaps in our knowledge of what this protein does and how it acts differently in cancer cells. My research group is trying to fill that gap in our knowledge to understand more about how cancer cells work.”Dr Mark Matfield, AICR’s Scientific Consultant, believes that this work may lead on to practical applications in the treatment of cancer:”This is not just a question of increasing our understanding of cancer. We want to find out more about the role of Nek2 in cancer cells because there may be a crucial step in the chromosome duplication process that we can block and thus prevent the cancer cell from dividing. It is only by this type of research into molecules inside the cancer cell that we will able to work out how to design effective new drugs to tackle cancer.”Derek Napier, AICR’s Chief Executive says the grant awarded to Dr Fry and worth 155,000 pounds sterling, has been given in line with the charity’s policy of funding the most exciting and novel approaches to research worldwide. “We believe it important to fund work that pushes the boundaries and Dr Fry and his team are charged with tackling one of the greatest scientific challenges of all.”(Source: Universty of Leicester: March 2006.)