Cancer-causing bacterium targets tumor-suppressor protein

Assistant Professor of Biochemistry Lin-Feng Chen and colleagues have discovered a mechanism by which Helicobacter pylori, the only known cancer-causing bacterium, disables a tumor suppressor protein in host cells.

The new study in the journal Oncogene, "Helicobacter pylori CagA targets gastric tumor suppressor RUNX3 for proteasome-mediated degradation," reports the discovery of a previously unknown mechanism linking H. pylori infection and stomach cancer, the second leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide.