Researchers from National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) and Taipei Medical University (TMU) yesterday said they discovered that the antidepressant bupropion can be used as an anti-metastasis drug for triple-negative breast cancer.
Cell and animal experiments have confirmed the finding, an NCTU team said at a news conference in Hsinchu, where the school is based.
Researchers are in the process of applying for patents in several countries, they added.
Photo: Hung Mei-hsiu, Taipei Times
Biopsies of cancer cells and tissues confirm that nicotine receptors and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) proteins form close connections, a TMU team said.
Nicotine causes HER2 proteins to separate from their structures, causing more carcinogenic activity, the team said.
Bupropion is a nicotinic receptor antagonist.
The results of the study, which was completed by drug design and systems biology teams at NCTU’s College of Biological Science and Technology and TMU’s breast cancer research team, were published in the online journal Nature Communications on July 16, NCTU said.
The report is titled “Membrane protein-regulated networks across human cancers.”
Team members included NCTU College of Biological Science and Technology professor Yang Jinn-moon (楊進木) and assistant professor Lin Chun-yu (林峻宇); Academia Sinica’s Wu Yan-hwa (吳妍華); and TMU College of Medical Science and Technology professor Ho Yuan-soon (何元順) and assistant professor Lee Chia-hwa (李嘉華), NCTU said.
Membrane proteins are recognized as being closely related to many types of cancer, Yang said.
Figuring out how membrane proteins regulate biochemical pathways through protein-protein interactions, leading to the development of cancer, would help researchers in their search for a cure for cancer, he said.
This would have huge implications for the development of cancer diagnoses and targeted drugs, he added.
For the study, researchers used big data and artificial intelligence to analyze large-scale cancer gene expression maps, and designed regulatory networks for nearly 2,000 types of different kinds of membrane proteins in 15 types of cancer to explore the roles membrane proteins play in different cancers, and their importance, the NCTU team said.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
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