Scientists have identified a gene that is overactive in a deadly form of brain cancer known as glioblastoma, according to a study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
The findings suggest that inhibiting that gene may improve the outlook for glioblastoma patients.
The new research showed that glioblastoma patients with high expression of a gene known as NAMPT died sooner….
NAMPT is a key component of a metabolic pathway known as the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) pathway that is involved in producing cellular energy and plays a key role in several biological processes that depend on energy generation, such as aging.
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Using human glioblastoma cells…[the researchers] showed that NAMPT helped cancerous stem cells survive and proliferate, fueling the growth of existing tumors, while inhibiting NAMPT reduced the ability of the cancer stem cells to renew themselves.
Furthermore, the scientists found that glioblastoma cells responded to radiation therapy – a standard therapy used to treat the disease in people – by increasing expression of NAD+ pathway genes, and that inhibiting NAMPT before dosing the cells with radiation made them easier to kill….
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