A team of researchers led by Stéphane Angers and Jason Moffat from University of Toronto has revealed a vulnerability in pancreatic cancer cells, a discovery that would open a door for novel targeted therapies for this aggressive cancer. Using the CRISPR–Cas9 genome editing technology, the team screened all the genes expressed in pancreatic cancer cells to determine which drives cancer cell growth. Results demonstrated that a protein called Frizzled-5 is important to the growth of pancreatic cancer. Protein Frizzled-5 is believed to be the receptor for the Wnt5A ligand. This protein, which is encoded by the FZD5 gene in humans, plays a role in signaling pathways that influence cell division, differentiation and death. If mutations occur in Frizzled-5 or the levels of the protein go down, it may drive cancer development. Based on the finding that Frizzled-5 is vulnerability in pancreatic cancer, the researchers created an antibody drug to disrupt cancer growth. The antibody turn out to be effective in destroying pancreatic cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo, sparing healthy cells. Using an advanced antibody design platform, the researchers successfully shortened the time to develop new antibodies. The researchers also studied Frizzled-5 in colorectal cancer because there are many similarities between this cancer type and pancreatic cancer. They found that Frizzled-5 could also correlate with colorectal cancer, suggesting Frizzled-5 as a therapeutic target in other cancer types. In sum, the study underscores the genetic vulnerabilities in pancreatic cancer cells, and suggests that intervention aimed to target these vulnerabilities could improve the treatments of cancers like pancreatic and colorectal cancer. The antibody development platform used in the study would facilitate the development of new antibody drugs. The findings have been published on 21 November by Nature Medicine. CusAb is a biotech company specialized in production of polyclonal antibody and recombinant protein.
