Heya!

Today was a great day! I went shopping with two of my best friends, Shu Hui and Kasturi. We were looking for a pair of shoes for Bing Hui, my another best friend, cos its her birthday, in a few more days. Well, i used this opportunity to also buy something for my dear dear mum. Mother’s day is coming soon, on 14th May. And also gifted a name for Kenneth, my classmate and friend. His birthday is coming soon too, on 25th May. It may seem that the date is faraway but i’m really busy this week and every other week. Plus, i have this bio test coming up on thursday. And my 2.4km run after the test. ooohf!! Wow! i feel really stressful at this moment. What should i do? Meditation is hardly helping now, cos there’s no time for meditation at all!!

Everytime i post an entry, i make sure that i also post something about what i’ve learned about cancer research and the advancements in it. This will serve me as a guide in my future. I’m sure it will. Today I read something about how the most important cell-signalling pathway for cell proliferation and survival can horribly go wrong in a cancer cell. Here is the excerpt from the Institute of Cancer Research.

PKB and cyclin D1

The protein PKB (also known as AKT) is part of a signalling pathway in the cell that promotes both cell proliferation and survival. This pathway receives signals from the external environment via a receptor at the cell surface, which then relays the signal to a protein complex known as PI3 kinase. PI3 kinase then produces a chemical, PIP3, that binds to and promotes activation of PKB. Once active, PKB sends signals throughout the cell via interactions with other proteins to promote both proliferation and survival. A key downstream target of PKB is a protein known as cyclin D1, which is an important regulator of cell proliferation and currently is under investigation in our laboratory. PKB acts on proliferation by regulating the amount of cyclin D1 in the cell (Figure 2). When PKB is actively sending signals throughout the cell, the level of cyclin D1 will increase, leading to uncontrolled cell proliferation, as in cancer. When PKB is switched off, the level of cyclin D1 in the cell will decrease and cell proliferation will cease.

In particular, the receptors that relay signals to the PI3 kinase/PKB pathway (see Figure 2) are overexpressed in lung and breast cancer, whilst genetic alterations that cause misregulation of PI3 kinase itself and the chemical messenger it produces have been discovered in colon, breast, prostate and ovarian cancer. PKB is also overexpressed in a number of tumour types.
Overexpression of cyclin D1 is associated with a variety of cancer types and contributes to the development of cancer. For example, overexpression of cyclin D1 has been associated with the development of breast cancer. These discoveries have led us to initiate a major programme to discover and develop inhibitors of PKB for the treatment of cancer.

Yey, today i’ve learned something new!! Tata for now!!