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July 15, 2005|Volume 33, Number 31|Six-Week Issue


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Scientists' discovery of protein amplification
in melanoma may lead to new drug target

Yale researchers have pinpointed specific gene and protein over-production in metastatic melanoma, pointing the way to a possible new drug target, according to a study published in the July 7 issue of Nature.

Gene amplification is a process that often happens in cancer cells when the normal DNA replication process is altered, causing many copies of the gene to be produced instead of a single copy of a region of a chromosome.

The researchers found that the MITF (microphthalmia-associated transcription factor) master regulator is the target of gene amplification in melanoma. MITF amplification also was more prevalent in metastatic disease and was correlated with decreased overall patient survival.

Collaborators at Yale, using the technology AQUA™ (Automated Quantitative Analysis) to quantitatively measure protein expression in melanoma tissue microarrays, also found an over-expression of the protein.

"According to the study, these data suggest that MITF represents a distinct class of 'lineage survival' or 'lineage addiction' oncogenes required for both tissue-specific development and tumor progression," says Dr. David Rimm, associate professor in the Department of Pathology at the School of Medicine, one of the authors on the study.

Another author on the study was Aaron Berger, a student in Rimm's laboratory. The corresponding author was William Sellers of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Co-authors included researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Medical University of Vienna.

The AQUA™ technology is the property of HistoRx Inc., a New Haven-based bioscience company offering novel digital technologies for in situ diagnostics developed at Yale. It enables researchers to localize and quantify proteins in tissue while maintaining spatial relationships -- a process that was previously impossible with conventional methods of pathology analysis and that vastly increases the quality and amount of information for analysis.

-- By Jacqueline Weaver


T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Yale launches program to train urban teachers

New alumni fellow elected

Sensors won't save lives from suicide bombers, warns Yale expert

Study: Monkeys ape humans' economic traits

Richard Shaw departs for Stanford post

Tennis goes co-ed at this year's Pilot Pen

Yale co-sponsors 'City of Summer' concerts and films

Exhibit features post-Civil War works by 'artful storyteller'

Yale alumni, teachers win Tony Awards

ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS

Law School project exploring the information society . . .

Poll shows public's distaste with foreign oil dependence

Scientists discover how plants protect themselves from infection

Team seeking 'perfume' to control malaria-carrying mosquitoes

Geologists use ancient sea algae to trace CO2 levels of long ago

Study shows how sex discrimination in job hiring is able to endure

YSN study shows effectiveness of preschool health screenings

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE NEWS

Spotlight on Sports

Athletics archive now in library's collection

Three promoted to post of associate provost

Event to explore role of faith in the corporate world

In Memoriam: Dick Wittink, marketing expert and SOM teacher

Five faculty members awarded Guggenheim Fellowships for research

Event explored how libraries can benefit city schools

New alumni lauded for efforts to improve public schools

Yale Books in Brief

Campus Notes


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