Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.
Click here to subscribe today or Login.

DANVILLE —Geisinger announced research with peptides that disrupt proteins in a way that could become a safe treatment for breast cancer.

According to a media release, a team of researchers led by a Geisinger professor published their findings in Cell Reports. They used peptides — chains of amino acids shorter than proteins — to disrupt a two-protein complex found in breast cancer cells, but not in normal cells.

The proteins, RBM39 and MLL1, must interact abnormally for breast cancer cells to multiply and survive, the release explained. “The team developed non-toxic peptides that prevent these proteins from interacting in breast cancer cells, disrupting their growth and survival.”

“Because these proteins do not interact in normal cells, the peptides we developed are not harmful to them,” said Dr. Anne M. Moon, professor at Geisinger’s Department of Molecular and Functional Genomics and senior author of the study. “This offers promise for future non-toxic cancer treatment.”

Moon noted the treatment cannot be trialed in humans without further laboratory tests.

The release cited other research Geisinger has been doing in cancer, including the MyCode Community Health Initiative, “which returns clinically relevant results to participants at increased genetic risk for cancer, including breast, ovarian and colon cancers.” Geisinger recently nabbed a 5-year, $3.6 million contract from the national Cancer Institute to study the role of genetic variation in cancer through that initiative.

Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish