A particularly significant discovery of the Berlin researchers was that the "NF-kB" activates various genes that are needed to gain control over the cell. In this way "NF-kB" can recruit useful co-activators, which also include "Stat 5a" and "AP-1". "Stat 5a" and "AP-1" transport the signal “grow, survive, proliferate” and travel with this signal into the cell nucleus. There the genes necessary for growth and cell proliferation are then activated. If too many copies of the signal transductors “Stat 5a”, “NF-k B”, and "AP-1" are present in the command center, the production of growth-promoting proteins shifts into top gear. The momentous consequence: the cells grow and divide unchecked, accelerating the development of cancer.
The National Genome Network has been supporting research work on Hodgkin’s disease for three years.
"It is important for genome research to find out what factors play a role in cancer," said Professor Bernd Dörken, who researches the causes of Hodgkin’s disease together with Professor Claus Scheidereit and other scientists in the NGFN. "Only when we know exactly what is going wrong in the signal systems of the cancer cells will we be able to detect cancer earlier and stop malignant growth with appropriate drugs."
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Research group Prof. Dörken
Research group Prof. Scheidereit
