Researchers Identify That Controls Growth of Aggressive Brain Tumor Cells

According UT Southwestern Medical Center have found a cellular switch that can turned off or even slow down the growth of the most commonly found aggressive malignant brain tumor. The researchers turned to a conclusion that the protein RIP1 that acts as a mediator of brain tumor cell survival, either protects or destroying cells. The protein identified is glioblastomas, and can be used to develop a treatment beneficial for highly malignant brain tumors. The senior author Dr. Amyn Habib, associate professor of neurology and neurotherapeutics at UT Southwestern, and staff neurologist at VA North Texas Health Care System explains the study, “Our study identifies a new mechanism involving RIP1that regulates cell division and death in glioblastomas. For individuals with glioblastomas, this finding identified a target for the development of a drug treatment option that currently does not exist. Furthermore, the findings show that RIP1 can be activated to divert cancer cells into a death mode so that they self-destruct. ”