Cancer Culprit

Eye colour, body shape, whether we can roll our tongues: genes affect everything about us. These genetic programs carry within them the code needed to create proteins – the building blocks of life. Given this essential role, it is perhaps unsurprising that genes also play a major part in some diseases. With gastric cancer (a microscopic section pictured), the activity of one gene, called CAV-1, is particularly important. As tumour cells (orange) take hold, the gene becomes less and less active in producing proteins. Although this shift occurs throughout the tumour, it’s in its connective tissue (green) where this drop in work rate appears to have the greatest toll. Lower levels of CAV-1 activity in these areas predict higher rates of death and recurrence in patients. Therefore, targeting CAV-1 within the connective tissue of tumours may offer a good opportunity for fighting the disease.

Written by Jan Piotrowski

Jan Piotrowski

Writer

A recent Imperial College graduate with a Masters in Science Communication, Jan now works as a freelance science communicator. His interests focus on neuroscience, psychology and the environment.

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• Honglei Chen
• Wuhan University, China
• Originally published under a Creative Commons Attribution license
• Published in PLoS ONE 8(3): e59102