A team of researchers from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), led by Manuel Serrano, from the Tumour Suppression Group, together with scientists from London and Santiago de Compostela, has discovered that the cellular reprogramming gene SOX2, which is involved in several types of cancers, such as lung cancer and pituitary cancer, is directly regulated by the tumor suppressor CDKN1B(p27) gene, which is also associated with these types of cancer.
The same edition of the online version of the journal also includes a study led by Massimo Squatrito, who recently joined the CNIO to direct the Seve Ballesteros Foundation Brain Tumour Group. This study, carried out in Eric C. Holland's laboratory, at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), in Nueva York, shows the relationship between MEF, a gene regulator involved glioblastomas - the most aggressive and common brain tumours -, and SOX2.
YAMANAKA'S CELLULAR REPROGRAMMING CONTINUES TO SURPRISE
The cell reprogramming process, discovered by this year's Nobel Prize winner, Shinya Yamanaka, has become a powerful tool for researchers. Via the introduction of a cocktail of four genes into cells, among them SOX2, scientists can reprogram cells and transform them into stem cells which can be used to study a variety of processes, including cancer.