MURCIA, 17 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Dr. Antonia Tomás Loba, from the Chronobiology group of the University of Murcia (UMU), has been awarded the XVII Research Prize of the Esteve Foundation, thanks to the discovery of the role of the protein p38gamma in liver cancer.
The Dr. Antoni Esteve Foundation grants its Research Awards to the best pharmacology work published by a Spanish author in the last two years, which can be of different aspects such as drug design, synthesis, galenic development, clinical or laboratory evaluation or use of drugs.
The winning article of this seventeenth edition was published in 2019 in Nature, one of the highest impact scientific journals in the world.
This study, whose main researcher and first author was the UMU researcher Antonia Tomás Loba, revealed important data regarding the involvement of the p38gamma protein in the development of the main type of liver cancer, which affects more than a million people per year, assuming the third most common cause of cancer deaths worldwide.
“This finding is of great medical importance because it identifies p38gamma as a promising drug target for the treatment of liver cancer,” explains Sabine Werner, member of the international jury of the Esteve Foundation award.
THE ROLE OF P38GAMMA PROTEIN
The investigations were carried out under the direction of Dr. Guadalupe Sabio, at the National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC), located in Madrid, where they discovered that the protein p38gamma controls cell division in the liver and that, in addition, its inhibition makes the protective function against liver cancer.
They used genetic models in which they eliminated both this protein and its chemical inhibitors. “Whether this protein was lacking or its activity was blocked with a drug, it was possible to delay tumor development in mice,” says Dr. Antonia Tomás Loba.
“The study therefore offers a fundamental contribution to our understanding of cell cycle progression in the diseased and regenerating liver and opens up new avenues for the treatment of liver cancer,” concludes Sabine Werner.
CHRONOBIOLOGY AND LIVER CANCER
Currently, Antonia Tomás Loba is focused on a line of research that studies the connection between liver cancer and the circadian system, which are the rhythms that regulate the physical, emotional and behavioral changes that a living being experiences throughout the day. They are related to the biological clock, which is located in the region of the brain called the hypothalamus.
The desynchronization of this circadian system due to the modern lifestyle, such as changes in sleep routines, eating at night, exposure to white light at night, leads to the so-called chronodisruption.
This increases the risk of developing liver, breast and prostate cancer according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO).
However, the molecular mechanism by which chronodisruption leads to the development of tumors in peripheral tissues and more specifically in the liver is not known. Understanding this mechanism is of particular relevance, since it is postulated that p38gamma is not only important in liver cancer, but that it may participate in the regulation of hepatic circadian rhythms “, clarifies Juan Antonio Madrid Pérez, professor at the UMU at the Physiology area and director of the Chronobiology Laboratory.
The awarding of the Esteve Foundation award brings with it a contribution of 18,000 euros that can be used to research future projects. “This award is an essential support for research in Chronobiology of liver cancer, positioning the University of Murcia and IMIB-Arrixaca as a scientific benchmark in Spain”, explains Juan Antonio Madrid.
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