Biological Trash Causes Cancer Cells to Self-Destruct

Researchers from California Institute of Technology and UC San Diego have developed a drug that causes cancer cells to self-destruct. The drug works by blocking the cancer cells’ ability to clean up their ‘garbage,’ causing the cells to fill up with waste products. Eventually the cancer cells self-destruct. The research team has tested this on human cancer cells, and next they are going to test the drug in animals.1

• 1Jing Li, Tanya Yakushi, Francesco Parlati, Andrew L Mackinnon, Christian Perez, Yuyong Ma, Kyle P Carter, Sharon Colayco, Gavin Magnuson, Brock Brown, Kevin Nguyen, Stefan Vasile, Eigo Suyama, Layton H Smith, Eduard Sergienko, Anthony B Pinkerton, Thomas D Y Chung, Amy E Palmer, Ian Pass, Sonja Hess, Seth M Cohen & Raymond J Deshaies. "Capzimin is a potent and specific inhibitor of proteasome isopeptidase Rpn11. (2017) [NATURE]