De werking van aspirine bij ontstekingen en kanker.*
Uit eerdere studies is al vastgesteld dat aspirine helpt tegen ontstekingen en kanker doch de precieze werking was nog onduidelijk. In een Australisch onderzoek wordt hier meer over duidelijk. Acetylsalicylzuur, wat de meeste mensen kennen als aspirine is een stof die al heel lang bekend is en de oudheid als sap uit wilgenbast gebruikt werd als pijnstiller, voorkomt en vertraagt de proteïne synthese van onjuist uitgevouwen proteïnes in de cellen.
Aspirin
Discovery May Improve Cancer Treatments
Salicylates,
including aspirin, are used to treat a range of inflammatory conditions and can
be used to prevent diseases such as cancer, but the way aspirin works is not yet
fully understood.
In a paper published in the prestigious Journal of Biological Chemistry
in April, Professor Bryan Williams, Director of the Monash Institute of Medical
Research, led a collaborative study that investigated the effects of salicylates
on the inhibition of protein synthesis.
"Our research showed that treating human cells with salicylates results in
the phosphorylation of the translation initiation factor eIF2fN, thus
inhibiting protein synthesis," Professor Williams said.
"Inhibiting or slowing down protein synthesis reduces the accumulation of
incorrectly folded proteins in cells, which reduces cellular stress and allows
protein synthesis to return to normal."
Under conditions of cellular stress, eIF2fN is phosphorylated by a group
of proteins called stress-activated kinases. One of these is protein kinase
R-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK).
The research showed that salicylates caused an early increase in the
phosphorylation of eIF2fN in normal mouse cells, but not in cells
deficient in PERK. Aspirin was shown to activate PERK. Moreover, although
aspirin inhibited protein synthesis in normal cells, this did not occur
significantly in cells deficient in PERK. Thus PERK plays an important role in
the inhibition of protein synthesis by salicylates.
"Our research into the mechanisms by which salicylates inhibit protein
synthesis could lead to the design of more effective aspirin-like drugs for the
treatment of diseases such as cancer," Professor Williams said.
### (April 2007)