01.12.2012 Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY

X-ray analysis deciphers master regulator important for skin cancer

With the X-ray vision of DESY's light source DORIS, a research team from Hamburg and Iceland has uncovered the molecular structure of a master regulator central to the most deadly form of skin cancer, melanoma. The results, published in the scientific journal "Genes & Development", throw new light on the workings of the so-called Microphthalmia-associated Transcription Factor MITF, that is not only connected to skin cancer, but also to a variety of hereditary diseases where the production of the skin pigment melanin is disturbed, and to certain aspects of ageing. "Our data could provide a rational basis for the development of tailor-made drugs targeting MITF", explains first author Vivian Pogenberg from the Hamburg branch of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL).

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