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Aug 19, 2016

First 3D Map of Cell-building Protein Linked to Cancer

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

3D Map of the cell-building protein tied to cancer.


The unprecedented view of the protein doublecortin kinase like domain 1 (DCLK1) could provide clues to how it contributes to cancer formation and progression.

DCLK1 is a protein that assembles scaffolds within cells called microtubules. These rope-like structures give cells shape, enable movement and cell division, and are crucial in enabling the growth and spread of cancer cells. More than one in 10 stomach cancers have defective forms of DCLK1, which have also been found in kidney, rectal and pancreatic cancers.

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute scientists Dr Onisha Patel and Dr Isabelle Lucet used the Australian Synchrotron to reveal the three-dimensional structure of a part of DCLK1 known as the ‘kinase domain’.

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