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.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
RSS