Home Investors News Press Releases 1998 UK Professor Wins Prestigious European Prize for Discovery of 'Guardian Angel' Gene

UK Professor Wins Prestigious European Prize for Discovery of 'Guardian Angel' Gene

DUNDEE - 18 February 1998 - Professor David Lane, Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of Cyclacel Limited, the cancer therapeutics company, has been named as one of three recipients of the 1998 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize. This is one of Europe's most prestigious awards for work in the medical field and will be presented on 14 March, 1998.

David Lane, widely hailed as a pioneer in the cell cycle field, will be sharing the Prize with Professors Arnold Levine (Princeton University, New Jersey) and Bert Vogelstein (John Hopkins Oncology Centre, Baltimore). All three are recognised for their work on the p53 cancer suppressor gene. Named after the molecular weight of its protein, p53 is an important mechanism by which the human body keeps cells from progressing through the cell cycle and becoming cancerous. This discovery was based on the observation that in most human cancers the function of the p53 is corrupted or blocked by mutations of the gene.

The p53 gene was first discovered and reported by David Lane in 1979. Soon afterwards Arnold Levine reported that he also independently discovered the p53 gene. When a cell sustains damage, such as that caused by radiation, or injury, such as smoking, p53 is produced and prevents the progression of the cell through the cell cycle to proliferation. This allows time for any damage sustained by the cell to be repaired. However, if the damage is irreparable, p53 will then cause the cell to be destroyed. If p53 mutates, it is unable to carry out its role as 'guardian angel' and the cell proliferates. Further studies have shown that p53 is the gene that is most frequently mutated in human tumours. More than 50% of all cancer cells have such mutations. In the late 1980s Bert Vogelstein discovered that one mutation is not enough to cause cancer and that only an accumulation of mutations in oncogenes and suppressor genes, including p53, could lead to malignant forms of cancer.

These discoveries led the way for the cell cycle field to become one of the main areas of modern cancer research. Potential treatments are attempting to restore or mimic the function of tumour suppressor genes, such as p53, in damaged cells and thus cause cancer cells to stop growing or be destroyed.

On receiving the Prize, Professor Lane said: "I feel very honoured to be selected by the Paul Ehrlich Foundation for this award. I am also delighted that the work of the other teams, such as those in the Levine and Vogelstein groups, is being recognised in this way. Our understanding of the role of p53 and related cancer suppressor genes, such as p16 and p21, in cell cycle control has led to several exciting leads for combating cancer, many of which are now taking forward at Cyclacel."

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