PTEN gene therapy and caffeine combine to check cancer cell growth.

2003 DEC 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- PTEN gene therapy and caffeine combine to check cancer cell growth.

"The tumor suppressor phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted from chromosome 10 (dPTEN) gene is a negative regulator of the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt/PKB) signaling pathway. Overexpression of PTEN in cancer cells results in cell-cycle arrest and cell death through inhibition of PI3K. Caffeine, a xanthine analogue, is well known to enhance the cytocidal and growth-inhibitory effects of DNA-damaging agents such as radiation, UV light, and anticancer agents on tumor cells by abrogating DNA-damage checkpoints through inhibition …