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Researchers have discovered new anti-cancer protein known as LHPP, it prevents the uncontrolled proliferation of cancer cells in the liver. The researchers led by Prof. Michael N. Hall from the Biozentrum, University of Basel, LHPP can also serve as a biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of liver cancer. Hepatocellular carcinoma is usually diagnosed when the liver is already damaged, detection of the anti- cancer protein LHPP as a biomarker may provide better treatment.
Liver tumors develop from mutated cells that grow and proliferate uncontrollably, researchers show that the loss of LHPP promotes tumor growth and reduces the chance of survival. LHPP could potentially be used as a prognostic biomarker. During the study, researchers generated a mouse model for hepatocellular carcinoma by activating mTOR signaling specifically in the liver. They analyzed more than 4,000 proteins, comparing them in healthy and tumor tissue.
LHPP is present in healthy tissue and absent in tumor tissue, re-introduction of the genetic information for LHPP by the researchers prevents the formation of tumors and maintains liver function. They discovered decrease in LHPP levels in tumors of patients with liver cancer, disease severity and life expectancy correlate with LHPP levels. Complete loss of the tumor suppressor leads to early death of cancer patients- average of two year. LHPP is a phosphatase that removes histidine-linked phosphate groups from proteins. Like all amino acids, histidine is a basic component of proteins.
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