Islamabad, Jan 1 : Oxidative stress
damages DNA. Researchers in the Vetsuisse Faculty have now decoded the mechanism
that repairs DNA damaged in this way.
This repair mechanism could lead
to less invasive approaches in cancer therapy and contribute to the development
of new tests for the early diagnosis of cancer.
Oxidative stress is the
cause of many serious diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's, arteriosclerosis and
diabetes. It occurs when the body is exposed to excessive amounts of
electrically charged, aggressive oxygen compounds. These are normally produced
during breathing and other metabolic processes, but also in the case of ongoing
stress, exposure to UV light or X-rays. If the oxidative stress is too high, it
overwhelms the body's natural defences.
The aggressive oxygen compounds
destroy genetic material, resulting in what are referred to as harmful
8-oxo-guanine base mutations in the DNA.
Together with the University of
Oxford, Enni Markkanen, a veterinarian in the working group of Prof. Ulrich
Hübscher from the Institute of Veterinary Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at
the University of Zurich has decoded and characterized the repair mechanism for
the mutated DNA bases.
This mechanism efficiently copies thousands of
8-oxo-guanines without their harmful mutations, thus normally preventing the
negative consequences of 8-oxo-guanine damage. In their study, published in
"PNAS," the researchers outline the detailed processes involved in the local and
temporal coordination of this repair mechanism. Prof. Ulrich Hübscher hopes that
this basic research can be used therapeutically.
"We expect that the DNA
repair mechanism discovered here will lead to less invasive approaches in cancer
therapy and that it will be possible to develop new clinical tests for the early
detection of certain types of cancer." In cooperation with University Hospital
Zurich, a study is already underway that involves examining samples of different
types of cancer for the repair gene and its
regulation.
Ends
SA/EN
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