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Liver cancer diagnosis and treatment could improve through this study

Published in the journal Gut is a new study whose findings could help improve the diagnosis and treatment of liver cancer.

The study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet identifies a specific connection between a protein and an lncRNA molecule in liver cancer. By increasing the presence of the lncRNA molecule, the fat depots of the tumor cell decrease, which causes the division of tumor cells to cease, and they eventually die. This knowledge can add to a better diagnosis and future cancer treatments.

Our genome gives our cells instructions that determine each cell type’s highly specialized function. The information is sent out using two different types of RNA molecules: coding RNA that converts DNA into proteins and non-coding RNA that do not produce proteins.

Because non-coding RNA molecules do not produce proteins, they have not been the main focus of research in the past, even though they amount to approximately 97 per cent of the RNA in our body. However, certain proteins, called RNA-binding proteins, have been shown to play a crucial role in cancer because of their ability to affect several different properties of RNA molecules.

The research team conducted a more detailed study of a specific pairing of a RNA-binding protein (CCT3) and an lncRNA molecule (LINC00326). Using advanced CRISPR technology, they were able to both reduce and increase the amount of the protein and the lncRNA to see how it affected the cancer cells. When the lncRNA was increased, the fat depots of the tumor cell decreased, the cell division ceased and many of the cancer cells died. Following the laboratory studies, the results were also verified in vivo.

The researchers’ discovery provides an insight into the interaction between RNA-binding proteins and lncRNA molecules, and contributes to a better scientific understanding of their role in tumors.

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