Scientists uncover new mechanism that defends against cancer

Researchers have identified a surprising mechanism that helps cells defend against cancer, a new study by the Sydney-based Children's Medical Research Institute (CMRI) said on Monday.

Telomeres, the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes, play a key role in aging and cancer prevention. Over time, these structures naturally shorten, signaling aging cells to stop dividing – a crucial safeguard against cancer, according to the study.

"Our data shows telomeres are much more active. They can acutely respond to stress and actively open up to turn on a cellular response that looks like aging. They do this to avoid cancer," said Tony Cesare of the Genome Integrity Unit at CMRI.

Cesare and his team worked with their collaborators at the University of Kyoto to understand the "active" role that telomeres can play in avoiding cancer.

Published in Nature Communications, the study revealed that telomeres do more than just passively shorten with age. They actively respond to stress by triggering cellular aging processes to prevent cancer from developing.

"Most people think of telomeres as a passive entity that shortens with cell division. This is a passive fail-safe used during aging," Cesare said.

By inducing cell cycle arrest or programmed cell death, telomeres help eliminate cells with chromosomal damage before they can divide uncontrollably, he said, adding this discovery introduces a previously unknown anti-cancer function of telomeres.

Beyond its significance for telomere biology, Cesare suggests that this breakthrough could open new avenues for cancer treatment – targeting telomeres to trigger cell death in cancerous cells may offer a promising therapeutic strategy.