ARD makes cells go 'round

Arresting or otherwise controlling the cell cycle, especially in cancer tissue, is a strategy used by many chemotherapeutics. Brandeis University researchers are elucidating the role of aci-reductone dioxygenases (ARDs) in cell division and believe the enzymes could be a new therapeutic target for cancer.

In bacteria, ARDs are a key part of the methionine salvage pathway, which, among other things, helps to regulate the synthesis of polyamines. Polyamines protect DNA in the process of mitosis. When cells divide rapidly, as they do in cancer, polyamine levels increase. Thus, polyamine biosynthesis is critical in the cell cycle and tightly controlled during cell division...