Over the past two decades, scientists have shed light on the genetic mutations that drive cancer. More recently, they are focusing on proteins to understand the biological events in cancer cells that lead to disease.
In three new studies, researchers including a team from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have harmonized and analyzed data on proteins, DNA, RNA, as well as clinical data from more than 1,000 patients across nearly a dozen different cancer types. They discovered several ways in which proteins are involved in important cancer processes that are common across many cancer types.
In one study published today in Cell, the scientists homed in on alterations that occur on proteins and change how they behave, called post-translational modifications (PTMs). The team found key modifications, such as the phosphorylation and acetylation of key proteins, that are associated with various biochemical pathways involved in cancer. A second Cell paper showed how certain mutations drive cancer by modifying the activity and regulation of key proteins. And the third study, published in Cancer Cell, describes the team’s efforts to harmonize and share the data with the research community.
