Liu, an assistant professor of biochemistry, determined cytoplasmic linker protein-170 plays a major role in proper cell duplication and DNA distribution. When the protein is removed, cell duplicates lack entire copies of DNA and can become cancerous.
"DNA has to be equally distributed from a mother cell to its daughter cells. If the cells are not identical to the mother cell, they become cancer," Liu said.
Liu's team said a cell will go through two important processes before it divides: It will create a second copy of its own DNA, and it will create two centrosomes, or poles, that will act as magnets to draw the DNA to them.
When the centrosomes have attracted the DNA, the cell divides in a process called mitosis, creating two identical cells.
But the researchers said when the linker protein was removed from a cell, more than two centrosomes formed, pulling only two copies of the DNA in several directions. Each centrosome received less than a full copy of the DNA.
"If there are multiple poles, the cell becomes confused and becomes cancerous or transformed," Liu said.
The study is reported in the early online edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
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