{"id":9609,"date":"2025-01-24T09:39:48","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T08:39:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/?p=9609"},"modified":"2025-01-24T09:41:14","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T08:41:14","slug":"caixaresearch-snapshot-a-tubulin-study-opens-up-new-possibilities-to-tackle-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/caixaresearch-snapshot-a-tubulin-study-opens-up-new-possibilities-to-tackle-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"CaixaResearch Snapshot: a tubulin study opens up new possibilities to tackle cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-9598\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/InstantaneasCR_Ene25_Blog_EN-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/InstantaneasCR_Ene25_Blog_EN-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/InstantaneasCR_Ene25_Blog_EN-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/InstantaneasCR_Ene25_Blog_EN-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/InstantaneasCR_Ene25_Blog_EN-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/InstantaneasCR_Ene25_Blog_EN-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/InstantaneasCR_Ene25_Blog_EN-2048x2048.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>The body\u2019s cells divide around 10 quadrillion times in a lifetime. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This carefully regulated process enables an original cell to replicate itself, giving rise to two daughter cells, each with a precise copy of the cell\u2019s DNA.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Microtubules play a critical role in allocating the chromosomes to the two daughter cells. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Microtubules make up the cytoskeleton, the \u201cscaffolding\u201d that grows and shrinks to support the cell\u2019s architecture and coordinate its movements, and tubulins are the proteins responsible for forming these microtubules and for how they act.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">More than 40 years ago, researchers described what is today known as the \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">tubulin code<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">\u201d: the diversity of structural variants and chemical modifications undergone by these proteins, which dictate how and when the microtubules must act. Although many of these processes are already known, researchers are still attempting to understand exactly how they affect cell division.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A new <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-024-54155-8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">study<\/span><\/a><b> led by <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/caixaresearch.org\/es\/convocatoria-caixaresearch-investigacion-salud-2021-proyecto-resistencia-farmacos-cancer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Helder Maiato<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a researcher at the Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (i3S) in Oporto, has identified <\/span><b>the crucial role played by a chemical modification in the alpha-tubulin, namely detyrosination, which ensures the microtubules correctly regulate the movement of the chromosomes, as well as the timely onset of their allocation during cell division.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> If this fails, cell division could go out of control, with the potential for cancer to develop<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This finding has not only improved our understanding of the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">tubulin code<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> but also opens up fresh possibilities in the search for <\/span><b>new strategies to improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Find out more in this thread with the new CaixaResearch Snapshot: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Link to thread<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-9598\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/InstantaneasCR_Ene25_Blog_EN-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/InstantaneasCR_Ene25_Blog_EN-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/InstantaneasCR_Ene25_Blog_EN-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/InstantaneasCR_Ene25_Blog_EN-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/InstantaneasCR_Ene25_Blog_EN-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/InstantaneasCR_Ene25_Blog_EN-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/InstantaneasCR_Ene25_Blog_EN-2048x2048.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The body\u2019s cells divide around 10 quadrillion times in a lifetime. This carefully regulated process enables an original cell to replicate itself, giving rise to two daughter cells, each with a precise copy of the cell\u2019s DNA.<\/p>\n<p>Microtubules play a critical role in allocating the chromosomes to the two daughter cells. Microtubules make up the cytoskeleton, the \u201cscaffolding\u201d that grows and shrinks to support the cell\u2019s architecture and coordinate its movements, and tubulins are the proteins responsible for forming these microtubules and for how they act.<\/p>\n<p>More than 40 years ago, researchers described what is today known as the \u201ctubulin code\u201d: the diversity of structural variants and chemical modifications undergone by these proteins,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[601,600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research","category-science-outreach"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>CaixaResearch Snapshot: a tubulin study opens up new possibilities to tackle cancer - Blog CaixaCi\u00e8ncia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/caixaresearch-snapshot-a-tubulin-study-opens-up-new-possibilities-to-tackle-cancer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CaixaResearch Snapshot: a tubulin study opens up new possibilities to tackle cancer - Blog CaixaCi\u00e8ncia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The body\u2019s cells divide around 10 quadrillion times in a lifetime. This carefully regulated process enables an original cell to replicate itself, giving rise to two daughter cells, each with a precise copy of the cell\u2019s DNA. Microtubules play a critical role in allocating the chromosomes to the two daughter cells. Microtubules make up the cytoskeleton, the \u201cscaffolding\u201d that grows and shrinks to support the cell\u2019s architecture and coordinate its movements, and tubulins are the proteins responsible for forming these microtubules and for how they act. More than 40 years ago, researchers described what is today known as the \u201ctubulin code\u201d: the diversity of structural variants and chemical modifications undergone by these proteins,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/caixaresearch-snapshot-a-tubulin-study-opens-up-new-possibilities-to-tackle-cancer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blog CaixaCi\u00e8ncia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-24T08:39:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-24T08:41:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/InstantaneasCR_Ene25_Blog_EN.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ubikmedia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ubikmedia\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/caixaresearch-snapshot-a-tubulin-study-opens-up-new-possibilities-to-tackle-cancer\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/caixaresearch-snapshot-a-tubulin-study-opens-up-new-possibilities-to-tackle-cancer\/\",\"name\":\"CaixaResearch Snapshot: a tubulin study opens up new possibilities to tackle cancer - 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