When 14-3-3 attaches to Gab2, which has a role in breast cancer, cell signaling is stopped, according to study in The EMBO Journal.
A team of investigators from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research have found a way to switch off a molecule downstream of HER2. Their method blocks signals to and from Gab2, preventing it from aiding cell proliferation.
The group was led by Roger Daly, Ph.D., who in 2002 discovered Gab2’s role in breast cancer. “Gab2 performs a number of signaling roles in normal cells throughout the body and is usually switched off when it’s not needed,” explains Dr. Daly. “Our task has been to work out how the body switches off Gab2, so that we can mimic that process in abnormal cells.”
Dr. Daly and colleagues used a molecule called 14-3-3 that attaches to Gab2, stopping it from transmitting further proliferative signals.
“Our next step will be to obtain more structural information about how 14-3-3 shields Gab2,” Dr. Daly says. “Once we know that, it should be possible to design drugs to combat Gab2-activated diseases in novel ways.”
The research was published on August 7 in the advance online publication of The EMBO Journal.
