Key points from article :
Forcing cancer cells to differentiate into somatic cells can cause them to stop proliferating.
Cancer cells behave much like stem cells, retaining the ability to indefinitely divide.
Transcriptional factors (TFs) are responsible for transforming cancer cells into normal-like cells.
Identified five factors that would normally allow colorectal cancer cells to differentiate.
SET Domain Bifurcated 1 (SETDB1) hinders the function of the identified TFs.
Depleting SETDB1 from cancer cells would stop the proliferation of colorectal cancer.
Using an RNA transfection agent, researchers confirmed their hypothesis in colorectal cancer organoids.
Cell proliferation rate was substantially reduced.
Cancer lost nearly all of its ability to be cancerous.
Systemic downregulation of SETDB1 may one day be a therapeutic tool for dealing with colorectal and other cancers.
Research by KAIST published in the journal Molecular Cancer Research.
