Belgian research couple rewarded for their work on incurable diseases
The Gagna & Van Heck International Prize for incurable diseases is awarded for the first time to a Belgian team.
News
PDGF are growth factors that stimulate cell proliferation through a cell surface receptor. Mutations in this receptor were identified in two cancer-related diseases of childhood: familial infantile myofibromatosis and overgrowth syndrome. A research project at the de Duve Institute, led by Florence Arts and Jean-Baptiste Demoulin, has now deciphered the mechanism by which mutated PDGF receptors trigger these two pathologies. They also demonstrate that these mutants can be blocked by drugs that are currently used to treat leukemia. The findings pave the way for the treatment of severe cases of familial infantile myofibromatosis and overgrowth syndrome.
Article describing this research
Arts FA, Chand D, Pecquet C, Velghe AI, Constantinescu S, Hallberg B, Demoulin JB.
Oncogene. (2016), 35(25):3239-48