Drug Doubles

Some drugs have split personalities – aspirin cured headaches for 100 years before being taken for heart conditions – and it seems that a similar quality is possessed by cancer-killing bromodomain inhibitors. When given to mice, these experimental drugs prevented atherosclerosis, the build-up of plaque inside arteries, which in humans is a major cause of circulation problems, heart attacks and strokes. Pictured is a cross-section of a human aorta, the main artery from the heart, partially blocked by this disease. Bromodomain inhibitors work by disrupting the production of certain protein complexes in cells. Researchers discovered that this not only destroys human cells with malignant tendencies but can also turn off a programme that makes endothelial cells lining the arteries attract and stick to white blood cells. While this sticky switch is a defence against infection, it can also promote atherosclerosis.

Written by Mick Warwicker

Mick Warwicker

Writer

A freelance communications consultant and writer, Mick specialises in science and education. A science graduate and award-winning print and broadcast journalist, he was Head of Communications at Newcastle University from 2000–2011.

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• Image by Richard Kirby and David Spears Ltd
• Science Photo Library
• Any re-use of this image must be authorised by Science Photo Library
• Research published in Molecular Cell, September 2014