Cancer is curable: scientists have discovered a unique protein in the human body

The fact that in the near future oncology will finally cease to be a sentence, scientists again started talking. Moreover, the latest discovery by researchers from the University of Notre Dame (South Bend, United States) indicates that a real breakthrough is possible even in curing the most dangerous forms of cancer, which are too tough for existing therapies.

A press release posted on the Medical Xpress website discusses the specific properties of the RIPK1 protein enzyme. He is one of the participants in the process of cell necrosis. However, as scientists have found, this protein can also block the development of malignant neoplasms and the occurrence of metastases. As a result, this compound may become one of the components of drugs intended for the treatment of the most dangerous forms of cancer.

As it became known as a result of the study, RIPK1 helps to reduce the presence of mitochondria in cells. These are the organelles responsible for the implementation of energy exchange. When their number decreases, so-called “oxidative stress” begins to develop. A huge amount of reactive oxygen species damages proteins, DNA and lipids, as a result of which the process of cell self-destruction begins. In other words, the process of either necrosis or cell apoptosis is started.

Scientists remind that necrosis is a pathological process in which the cell itself is destroyed, and the release of its contents occurs into the intercellular space. If the cell dies according to its genetic program, which is called apoptosis, then its remains are removed from the tissue, which eliminates the likelihood of inflammation.

According to American researchers, RIPK1 can become one of the catalysts for the so-called “controlled cell death” process. In other words, it can be used as a weapon of “point destruction” – to apply targeted “strikes” to the tumor with a protein enzyme. This will help stop the process of metastasis and increase in neoplasm.

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