An enzyme involved in cell stress responses could become a new pharmacological target in the treatment of liver cancer, a disease that currently has few available treatment options. The research team at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) led by Guadalupe Sabio has discovered that the protein p38γ, one of the four types of p38 kinase, is essential for the initiation of cell division in liver cells. This indicates that "p38γ could be a useful therapeutic target for liver cancer," says Sabio, adding, "We are now developing inhibitors of this protein to test in this cancer." The study has been published today in Nature.
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