
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 20, 1993                   TAG: 9305200231
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-13   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short

ANTI-CANCER GENE MAY SHUT DOWN OTHER GENES

A cancer-suppressing gene may do its job by temporarily shutting down other genes while damage to genetic material is repaired, a study suggests.

Scientists found that when the gene, called p53, is unusually active, it inactivates a class of genes that include those that help the cell divide.

But it does not affect other genes, such as those that help the cell repair genetic damage, they found.

The p53 gene becomes overactive in response to irradiation or other factors that can damage genes, researchers said. The damage can lead to cancer if not repaired.

So when such damage occurs, p53 appears to halt the cell's attempts to divide by shutting down some genes, allowing genetic repairs to be done before the cell produces its progeny, researchers said.

The work is presented in today's issue of the journal Nature by scientists at the University of Chicago and the University of Pittsburgh. - Associated Press

by CNB