
Enzyme discovery is missing piece in understanding how to rein in blood vessels that fuel cancer By unleashing the power of an enzyme that limits blood vessel growth, it may be possible to develop new or better treatments for multiple health conditions.
December 22, 2020
LA JOLLA, CA Most living things need oxygen to grow and thrive. Even cancerous tumors. That's why tumors will readily sprout new blood vessels if their oxygen is starved, creating new lifelines for survival.
A study published today from Scripps Research pinpoints the precise molecular machinery that makes this happen, providing scientific insights that can potentially be translated into medicines that help kill tumors and stop cancer from spreading in the body.
The findings also may enable new interventions that promote healthy blood-vessel development for people with heart disease and other conditions, says the study's leader Xiang-Lei Yang, PhD, a professor In the Department of Molecular Medicine at Scripps Research.
The research appears in the journal PLOS Biology.
We've uncovered a key regulation step that drives blood-vessel development for tissues deprived of adequate oxygen finally creating a more complete picture of the complex process that enables cancer tumors to adapt and survive, says Yang. By blocking this process on a molecular level, we found it's possible to inhibit tumor growth.
The study culminates a years-long project initiated by first author Yi Shi, PhD, who began the work as a staff scientist in Yang's lab but recently finished his contributions from Nankai University in Tianjin, China, where he is now a faculty member.
Over the past decade, Yang and her team have published several key discoveries relating to how cells create blood vessels, delving into previously unknown roles of genes that regulate this function. Prior studies dealt with genes known as c-Myc and HIF-1, which promote blood vessel development and have strong links to cancer.
In the new study, Yang's team looked at negative regulators of blood vessel growth or proteins that turn the function off to find out what causes them to become inactivated when tissues are deprived of oxygen, which is what happens within a solid tumor.
Their central focus was an enzyme known as SerRS (seryl-tRNA synthetase), most commonly known to exist in the gel-like substance within cells. There, the enzyme kicks off the first step of making new proteins. However, the enzyme is also found within the nucleus, performing an entirely different but vital job: Limiting unhealthy blood vessel growth by tamping down the function of c-Myc and HIF-1.
In the study, the researchers found that SerRS can be silenced by proteins known as ATM/ATR, which manage DNA damage responses. These proteins activate when tissues are deprived of oxygen. When this happens, new blood vessel growth can go unchecked and tumors can flourish.
Through separate experiments involving mice and human breast cancer cells, the team confirmed that by blocking the effect of ATM/ATR on SerRS, they were able to successfully reduce tumor growth.
Notably, Yang says, SerRS is part of an evolutionarily ancient family of enzymes called tRNA synthetases, which begin the process of making proteins that go on to form blood, skin, bones and other essential elements of human life. The findings of this study show that SerRS has evolved extra functions beyond making proteins.
It's possible that SerRS regulates more than blood vessel development, Yang says. This is a compelling finding that opens the door to further investigation into how broad its influence may reach in the human body.
The study, Phosphorylation of seryl-tRNA synthetase by ATM/ATR is essential for hypoxia-induced angiogenesis, is authored by Yi Shi, Ze Liu, Qian Zhang, Ingrid Vallee, Zhongying Mo, Shuji Kishi and Xiang-Lei Yang.
This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, aTyr Pharma through an agreement with Scripps Research, and a fellowship from the National Foundation for Cancer Research.
Cancer Integrative Structural & Computational Biology Yang, Xiang-Lei
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
09/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Pam Oliver, Sideline Icon Who Redefined t...
09/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Technology Exhibits Preview, Part 2By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Tuesday, December 9, 2025 - 7:17 am
Print This Story | Subscr...
09/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Cloud Production Workshop Spotlights Live and Non-Live ...
09/12/2025
Next-generation content protection: Multi-technology security is integral to com...
09/12/2025
CBS Sports Provides One-of-a-Kind Production' for UEFA Champions League Cro...
09/12/2025
Spanish Professional Basketball League Relies on NETGEAR AV, MAM Tech for Seamle...
09/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: St. Thomas's Mike Gallagher and Casey Eakins on the Tommies...
09/12/2025
Free Registration for the 2025 SVG Summit Closes Today at 5 p.m. ET!After the deadline, tickets will cost $150 to attend the eventBy SVG Staff
Tuesday, Decemb...
09/12/2025
University of St. Thomas Ushers in Division I Era With New Arena and a Broadcast...
09/12/2025
For decades, music videos have done more than just accompany a song; they've shaped style, started conversations, and helped us fall in love with our favori...
09/12/2025
For decades, customers have turned to L3Harris capabilities in electronic warfar...
09/12/2025
L3Harris propulsion systems enable agile maneuvering and resilience for U.S. spacecraft, supporting national security and mission success in the evolving space ...
09/12/2025
L3Harris Technologies' imaging and sounding instruments will play a critical...
09/12/2025
LOS ANGELES James Shears has joined ThinkAnalytics as senior vice president, advertising, tasked with leading global strategy and commercial expansion of the co...
09/12/2025
VIENNA, Va. The Media Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization specializing in communications policy and the First Amendment, has named Kathleen Kirby o...
09/12/2025
Throughout its century-plus existence, the motion picture industry has had to fight battles on multiple fronts to protect its content from piracy. From protecti...
09/12/2025
NEW YORK Fueled by football season, ad supported TV viewing in Q3 peaked in September, representing 74.7% of overall TV viewership in that month, per Nielsen...
09/12/2025
LYNDONVILLE, N.Y. Digital Alert Systems has introduced the DAS3-DC-PS, a new DC power supply option for its DASDEC-III emergency alert system. Designed to meet ...
09/12/2025
Advanced Systems Group, LLC (ASG), a technology and services provider for media creatives and content owners, announced the appointment of Macky Beheshti as Dir...
09/12/2025
Triveni Digital and Device Solutions Inc today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted them a new patent for their novel ATSC 3.0 r...
09/12/2025
ThinkAnalytics, the global leader in AI-powered data analytics for TV and streaming, today announced the appointment of James Shears as Senior Vice President of...
09/12/2025
European data management specialists appointed as SingleStore champion partner, bringing unified real-time transaction, vector and analytics capabilities to org...
09/12/2025
Broadcast Solutions, the leading systems integration group, has launched a new business, aimed at providing consultancy and design services across the media ind...
09/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau has once again delayed implementation of sponsorship identification requirements for foreign...
09/12/2025
WASHINGTON #GALSNGEAR has announced two major leadership retreats in early 2026 that the group said are designed to equip women in media, entertainment, and tec...
09/12/2025
WASHINGTON With a Dec. 15 deadline looming for a new retransmission consent and carriage deal between Cox and Verizon, the two parties have started trading barb...
09/12/2025
SAN FRANCISCO Samba TV has announced that it has secured new financing from Horizon Technology Finance Corporation, an affiliate of Monroe Capital, with an init...
09/12/2025
Many cord-cutters looking to reduce their monthly cable or satellite bills are also cutting back on streaming costs, according to new research from All About Co...
09/12/2025
LAS VEGAS and NASHVILLE, Tenn. Shure technology played a critical role during the broadcast productions of the 59th Annual CMA Awards at the Bridgestone Arena i...
09/12/2025
Unveiling of new CV1, web-browser workflows and Milan roadmap for mission-critical AV environments
Nixer Pro Audio will return to Integrated Systems Europe (IS...
09/12/2025
Spring Forward Are you ready to spring forward? The following steps will automate your transition from Standard Time to Daylight Saving Time.
Ensure all WO Aut...
09/12/2025
Tuesday 9 December 2025
Judy Murray calls for PE to be a priority for all schoo...
09/12/2025
Kyocera and Rohde & Schwarz demonstrate OTA characterization of mmWave PAAM at C...
09/12/2025
Wuppertal December 9, 2025
Riedel and Racing Electronics Announce Strategic Pa...
09/12/2025
Verified: LinkedIn crosses 100M member milestone From LinkedIn Published on Dec 9, 2025 Categories: Company News, Featured News
LinkedIn Corporate Communi...
09/12/2025
Another year, another 12 months of amazing adventures.
We are pleased to bring you our Highlights of the Year 2025.
We've worked hard and played hard this...
09/12/2025
Original article published in TV Tech: https://www.tvtechnology.com/equipment/bmg-redefines-remote-production-through-cloud-connected-workflows
When I started ...
09/12/2025
DPA Microphones today announces the immediate availability of its new N-Series Digital Wireless Microphone System for customers throughout the U.S. In addition ...
09/12/2025
Jason, before we get into the detail, what first got you involved in retail media standards? And how did you come to chair IAB Europe's Retail and Commerce ...
09/12/2025
Current Rose of Tralee Katelyn Cummins has been revealed as the third contestant...
09/12/2025
An easier approach to recreate the powerful nerve-blocking molecule found in shellfish A Scripps Research-led study resolves the challenge of synthesizing saxit...
08/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Technology Exhibits Preview, Part 1By SVG Staff
Monday, December 8, 2025 - 6:56 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The 2025...
08/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Bill Rasmussen, the Entrepreneur Who Drea...
08/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Live Production Innovation Workshop Goes Deep on ST 211...
08/12/2025
#GALSNGEAR Announces East, West Leadership Retreats for 2026By Ken Kerschbaumer
Monday, December 8, 2025 - 9:10 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story High...
08/12/2025
MediaKind Acquiring Harmonic's Video Business to Create New Streaming-Video ...
08/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Sony HDR/SDR Camera Shading Techniques for Live Production...
08/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: NESN's Kenny Elcock and Harmonic's Jean Macher Talk Next-G...
08/12/2025
Monsters Funday Football,' ESPN's Latest Live Animation Effort, Advances...