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
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
10/06/2026
DAZN-owned digital-media company launches three fan-first series leaning into cr...
10/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the appointment of Jason Dino as Southwest Regional Sales Manager USA, covering Southern California and the Southwest region. Dino joins...
10/06/2026
An 11% decrease in number of global broadcast deals reflects the organization...
10/06/2026
The Women Without Boundaries Awards recognize women whose work is advancing the future of media, broadcast, AV, workplace technology, digital experience, and re...
10/06/2026
Today is match day minus two for FIFA and HBS. On Thursday, there will be two ma...
10/06/2026
SES is supporting broadcast distribution of the world's biggest football tou...
10/06/2026
NDI has announced that BirdDog has become the first hardware manufacturer to achieve full NDI 6.3 compatibility across its complete lineup of cameras, encoders,...
10/06/2026
Vince Caputo and Scott Carter, winners of the 2026 Sports Emmy for Outstanding Post Produced Audio have been announced as presenters for the 2026 SVG Advanced A...
10/06/2026
FOX One today unveiled a slate of new product features and enhancements designed to elevate the viewing experience for fans on the official streaming platform o...
10/06/2026
Primary production partners Dome Productions and Raycom Sports once again played...
10/06/2026
The Women in Sports Filmmaking Experienceship is an immersive professional devel...
10/06/2026
The league has expanded its HSAN architecture for the NBA Finals to manage more ...
10/06/2026
The inaugural MoonPay X Games League (XGL) Winter Draft will take place Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at Cosm Los Angeles from 7-9 p.m. PT. The event will strea...
10/06/2026
The University of Oklahoma (OU) Athletics Department and Learfield have announce...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has released TR-06-4 Part 8, a new specification for RIST Satellite-Hybrid: Out-of-Band Method. The specification creates a mecha...
10/06/2026
Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, supporting live medical proc...
10/06/2026
A still from The Doom Generation by Gregg Araki (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
By Lucy Spicer
Have you checked out our Sundance Film Festival 101 list yet...
10/06/2026
Get Hands-On with Interfaces & Mic Preamp Brands
If youre after a new interface or preamp, then GearExpo UK is the place to be! Well have a whole host of au...
10/06/2026
November 13-14 2026, The Midway, San Francisco
Following their recent rebranding, MONO Music Conference (formerly Music Expo) have officially announced thei...
10/06/2026
Debut instrument free for limited time
deFORM is the debut release from newly founded developer ebbandflow, and it's being offered as a free download fo...
10/06/2026
Alone Australia Season 4: Meet the Cast
10 June, 2026
Media releases
WATCH THE TRAILER
Smash-hit survival series Alone Australia drops its highly anticipa...
10/06/2026
DEADLY THEN, DEADLY NOW, DEADLY ALWAYS: SBS & NITV IGNITE NAIDOC WEEK 2026 WITH ...
10/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF advance laser-based drone defense with THORIS LCS Rohde & Schwarz is showcasing THORIS at ILA 2026: A sovereign, end to end counter...
10/06/2026
MAHLE and Rohde & Schwarz develop application for sensor testing of modern drive...
10/06/2026
Production and Development Funding supports the creation of compelling, commercially viable, artistic and culturally relevant South African screen content. Deve...
10/06/2026
Media buyers and sellers can now compare YouTube reach from computer, mobile, an...
10/06/2026
Accedo, Humans not Robots, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) have announced the launch of Ecoflow X. Formerly an IBC Accelerator project, ...
10/06/2026
Frequency, the engine powering the world's leading streaming television channels, today announced that James Smith has joined the company as General Manager...
10/06/2026
At the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for live medical procedures s...
10/06/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media, and entertainment managed services, today announced the launch of its Content Exchange platform powered by Or...
10/06/2026
Klvr will showcase how venues, integrators and production teams are rethinking disposable battery usage at InfoComm 2026 (Las Vegas, June 17-19, booth #N6311). ...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has further enhanced the Reliable Internet Streaming Transport (RIST) protocol by incorporating a new feature, RIST Satellite-Hyb...
10/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/06/2026
10 Jun 2026
VEON's Banglalink Brings Every World Cup 2026 Match to Football...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
How to watch every ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 match live on Sky Sports
Where is the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 availabl...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
P RLA brings first-ever Beautifully Clean Oral Care'...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
Sky reveals pulse-pounding first teaser trailer for upco...
10/06/2026
Wuppertal June 10, 2026
Riedel Artist at the Heart of the 14th World Live Neurovascular ConferenceAt the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Li...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Showcases New Mobile Experience, Collections and Games Vision in APAC
Product
10 June 2026
GlobalSouth KoreaJapan
Link copied to c...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Ready to Join? The Netflix Fan Club Arrives at Cannes Lions
Business
10 June 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Download all assets
N...
10/06/2026
Chemists snap together complex 3D molecules from highly reactive radicals-without losing their shape Scripps Research team develops stereoretentive radical-radi...
09/06/2026
Kiswe announces an expanded long-term partnership with ONE Championship (ONE), t...
09/06/2026
SiriusXM will broadcast FOX Sports' English-language commentary for all 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 matches from June 11 through July 19, available to subscribe...
09/06/2026
EVS has announced it is changing its corporate name from EVS Broadcast Equipment to EVS, reflecting the company's expanded portfolio beyond broadcast equipm...
09/06/2026
Fox Corporation and the NFL have announced a multi-year agreement to bring NFL c...
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.
