Pathway to Prevent Mono-Related Cancer
Research at the University of Toronto has led to the discovery of a possible path to prevent the development of cancers tied to the Epstein-Barr virus, which infects millions of people a year and causes mononucleosis.
Published in Nature Microbiology, the research focuses on how the Epstein-Barr virus, along with the Kaposi’s sarcoma associated herpesvirus shield themselves from destruction inside the human body.
The two viruses remain in people for life, although mostly in a dormant state. However, the viruses can also lead to abnormal, cancer-causing cell growth -- about half of Hodgkin’s disease cases are tied to the Epstein-Barr virus. Lori Frappier, a professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics, along with her students, Jaime Yockteng Melgar and Natasha Malik-Soni, and co-authors at the University of Minnesota, discovered a way to suppress these viral infections.
The researchers discovered that both viruses produce defense proteins that inhibit an enzyme in humancells that would normally mutate and ultimately destroy these invaders. Using CRISPR gene editing, they were able to turn off the viral defense protein, allowing the enzyme to stop the virus from reproducing uncontrollably. They are now working on replicating these results in animals.
“Epstein-Barr virus expresses many proteins with unknown functions”, says Frappier. “We ended up finding a completely unexpected function of an Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi’s sarcoma virus protein in disabling a cellular enzyme that can disrupt the integrity for both viral and cellular DNA. This is a great example of how an unbiased basic science experiment can lead to novel therapeutic opportunities."
The researchers hope their discovery will lead to a treatment for Epstein-Barr virus infection, which would prevent mono and the cancers associated with this infection.
Funding for this research was provided by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Cancer Institute.
--Heidi Singer, with files from the University of Minnesota
