Leukemia affects over 6,000 Canadians per year. A team of researchers used the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan to discover a new way to kill leukemia cancer cells. When the scientists hyperactivated the “garbage disposal systems” of leukemia cells, it caused the cancer to die.
The researchers believe this finding will transform the direction of cancer therapy by focusing on a protein that was previously believed to be impossible to target. Their study was featured on the cover of the journal Cancer Cell.
“It was a major advancement to visualize the structural biology through crystallography facilities at CLS and to prove conclusively that ONC201 binds and hyperactivates ClipP proteases to induce cell death,” said co-author Dr. Aaron Schimmer from the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and the University of Toronto.
>Read more on the Canadian Light Source website
Image: Interface of two heptamer rings in an apparently closed conformation of human mitochondrial ClpP.