OUR TECHNOLOGIES
> Agriculture > Human Health   > Cancer > Inflammation   Human Health Regulating Cell Death - Application to Human Diseases Senesco's technology is based on the discovery that Factor 5A1, one of two human genes encoding eucaryotic translation initiation Factor 5A, regulates apoptosis as well as certain execution genes, pro-inflammatory cytokines, receptors and transcription factors and therefore plays a key role in cell death and inflammation. We believe that Factor 5A1 is a novel and potentially powerful therapeutic target for a broad range of apoptotic diseases, including inflammatory/ischemic diseases and cancers. Factor 5A1 functions as a shuttle protein, selectively translocating mRNAs required for apoptosis and cytokine function from the nucleus to cytosolic ribosomes for translation. Our preclinical studies have shown that Factor 5A1 kills cancer cells through both the intrinsic (p53) and the extrinsic (cell death receptor) pathways. We have specifically shown that Factor 5A1 regulates the expression of p53, caspases, TNFR1 (TNFa receptor) and the IFN-gamma receptor, and that it also negatively regulates bcl-2 and telomerase. Our studies to date have shown that Factor 5A1 may be non-toxic to normal cells, presumably because of its function as a shuttle protein. Normal cells are not actively expressing mRNAs of cell death genes, and therefore the Factor 5A1 protein, even if present in normal cells, is non-functional. Please refer to additional discussion of our data on our Cancer and Inflammation. Back to Top

Disclaimer