17/02/2012

After years studying the molecular bases of glioblastoma - the most common brain tumor and one of the most aggressive of all cancers, the group led by Dr. Joan Seoane , Director of Translational Research at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) and ICREA Research Professor has today published a study in Nature Medicine identifying USP15 as a critical protein in cancer which, thanks to its molecular characteristics, shows enormous therapeutic promise. The stuy had the collaboration of Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) and the researchers Dr. David García-Dorado and Dr. Ignasi Barba, from the cardiovascular diseases group, Dr. Juan Sahuquillo, from the neurotraumatology and neurosurgery group, and Dr. Elena Martínez Sáez, from the molecular pathology group.USP15 promotes tumor progression by activating the TGFâ pathway. Playing a highly significant oncogenic role in glioblastoma, TGFß is a powerful immunosuppressant allowing the tumor to escape the host immune system. It also acts as an angiogenic factor inducing blood vessels, promotes tumoral invasion, activates cancer stem cells, and in some tumors, induces metastases.