Cancer on the cross-wires

• DOI: 10.1007/bf02834476
• Publication Date: 2008-02-13T02:15:09Z
• Authors: Raghava Sharma; M. Fahad Ullah; Abu Rafay
• Keywords: 0303 health sciences; 03 medical and health sciences; 3. Good health

Normal cells in our body that constitute a cellular society are not selfish and this is evident by the fact that they have evolved a phenomenal pathway whereby they cause their own death under conditions of stress that lie beyond the absorbing capacity of the cell. This phenomenon is known as ‘Apoptosis’ or ‘Programmed Cell Death’. However, cancerous cells, which are indeed selfish and proliferate at the cost of their normal counterparts, evade the apoptotic pathway by hindering the mitochondrial release of the proapoptotic protein cytochrome c (Cyt c). Here, we have proposed a scheme whereby the power of proteasome (an intracellular protein chopper) could be harnessed to remove the obstruction placed by cancer cell to the apoptotic process and thereby pushing the cancerous cells to self-destruction, leading to a possible cure for cancer.