UIC researchers show how cancer-preventing foods work.

[IGBT]

Text

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago are unraveling the biochemical mechanism by which functional foods combat cancer.
"Compounds like sulforaphane in broccoli and resveratrol in wine have been shown to prevent cancer," said Andrew Mesecar, associate professor of pharmaceutical biotechnology in the UIC College of Pharmacy. "They do that by signaling our bodies to ramp up the production of proteins capable of preventing damage to our DNA.

"We now have a good idea how that signal works."

The findings are published in this week's Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Two key proteins, Keap1 and Nrf2, are involved in spurring the defense against cancer when disease-preventing foods are ingested, according to Mesecar and post-doctoral researcher Aimee Eggler. Keap1, the sensor protein, detects the presence of dietary compounds like sulforaphane when they link with its cysteine residues, one of the amino acids that make up proteins. Keap1 binds to Nrf2, the messenger that turns on the genes for the protective proteins, averting DNA damage.

 

[CycloWizard]

Great news! Soon I will be able to take a pill with all the goodies instead of having to eat broccoli. 😛

 

[IGBT]

..I like steamed broccoli..have it every day.

 

[CycloWizard]

Originally posted by: IGBT
..I like steamed broccoli..have it every day.

To each his own. 😀

 

[ethergnome]

oh yeah, i eat RAW broccoli every day. Seriously though, could somebody post a layman's explanation of the article?

 

[CycloWizard]

Originally posted by: ethergnome
oh yeah, i eat RAW broccoli every day. Seriously though, could somebody post a layman's explanation of the article?

Generally, they're close to isolating the chemicals in different foods that may be effective at preventing cancer.

 

[magomago]

I think its funny how all thse "cancer preventing foods" are just everday foods we SHOULD be eating anyways. They make it seem like such a crazy science to prevent cancer, when all it boils down is to eating the right foods

 

[Gibsons]

Originally posted by: ethergnome
oh yeah, i eat RAW broccoli every day. Seriously though, could somebody post a layman's explanation of the article?

There's a very large group of proteins (or genes, we'll use them interchangibly here) whose function is to repair DNA. Accumulated damage to DNA will usually lead to a cells death or transformation to a cancerous state.

Some of these genes seemed to be turned on in response to DNA damage. That is, you see no evidence of the DNA repair proteins in a group of cells. You shine some UV light on them for a bit and a few minutes later there are a lot of them around. There are lots and lots of different kinds of DNA repair mechanisms, all using different genes to repair different kinds of damage - in the UV example, repair of thymine dimers is very important, while repair of double-stranded breaks would be less important. We basically don't (or didn't) know the actual mechanism of exactly how the DNA repair genes get turned on. It appears that these researchers have found the "primary sensor" of DNA damage for at least one particular DNA repair pathway.

Hard to say where this could lead. One thing the drug company types will likely look into is a chemical that mimics those found in brocolli, but works say, 100-fold better. Theoretically this should aid in cancer prevention, but who knows what the side effects might be.

 

[IGBT]

There's a very large group of proteins (or genes, we'll use them interchangibly here) whose function is to repair DNA. Accumulated damage to DNA will usually lead to a cells death or transformation to a cancerous state.

..so for the time being..load up on brocolli if ya like it??..I love the stuff..raw and steamed. I like to slice up crowns into spears and shake em up in a bag wit garlic and pepper and eat em raw.😀..or lightly steam em for dinner wit turkey.

 

[Gibsons]

Originally posted by: IGBT

There's a very large group of proteins (or genes, we'll use them interchangibly here) whose function is to repair DNA. Accumulated damage to DNA will usually lead to a cells death or transformation to a cancerous state.

..so for the time being..load up on brocolli if ya like it??..I love the stuff..raw and steamed. I like to slice up crowns into spears and shake em up in a bag wit garlic and pepper and eat em raw.😀..or lightly steam em for dinner wit turkey.

Fresh vegetables in general are hard to beat health-wise, with or without a new pill on the horizon. They provide more benefits than just what's being discussed here. Just don't roll them in dough and deep fry them. 😛