USA scientists explore role of MYB transcription factors in cancer

Shashi Anand, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in pathology, is studying the role of MYB proteins in cancer. His research was recently published in the scientific journal Cancer and Metastasis Reviews. 

Researchers at the USA Health Mitchell Cancer Institute and the Whiddon College of Medicine are exploring the roles of proteins called MYB transcription factors in human malignancies. Their recently published research highlights MYB proteins as emerging therapeutic targets and useful biomarkers to predict cancer aggressiveness and response to various types of therapies. 

“MYB transcription factors are proteins that regulate the expression of several key genes that make cancer cells grow faster, avoid death even in harsh environmental conditions, and make them invade through the extracellular matrix, facilitating their spread to other organs,” said Shashi Anand, Ph.D., lead author of the article. 

Research on MYB is conducted in the lab of Ajay

Singh, Ph.D., who is the senior author of the study.

Anand is a postdoctoral research fellow who works in the lab of Ajay Singh, Ph.D., a professor of pathology at the Whiddon College of Medicine and leader of the Cancer Biology Program at the Mitchell Cancer Institute.

Their research was published in Cancer and Metastasis Reviews, a high-impact journal that publishes reviews on recent developments in the biology and treatment of malignant disease and highlights promising new directions.

Singh’s lab heavily focuses on MYB, and scientists have identified its roles and expression patterns in multiple types of malignancies. The new knowledge detailed in the article could be highly useful to develop new approaches for therapeutic targeting of cancer-supporting MYB functions and enhancement of existing treatment modalities.

“Besides summarizing existing literature and providing a critical discussion, we also intended to identify gaps in our knowledge to serve as guidance for future research directions,” said Singh, who is the senior author of the study. “This article should also serve as an educational resource for students and early-career researchers to build a foundational understanding.”

Additional authors from the Mitchell Cancer Institute and the Whiddon College of Medicine, Department of Pathology, are Kunwar Somesh Vikramdeo, Ph.D; Sarabjeet Kour Sudan, Ph.D.; Amod Sharma, Ph.D.; Srijan Acharya, Ph.D.; Mohammad Aslam Khan, Ph.D.; and Seema Singh, Ph.D.

The research is supported, in part, by funding from National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute and the U.S. Department of Defense. 

Read the full article in Cancer and Metastasis Reviews.