At an early stage in life, children with progeria show clear signs of ageing: they stop growing, lose their hair and suffer from cardio-vascular illnesses. These children seldom live beyond the age of 16. There is no treatment although Martin Bergö, together with a group of researchers in the United States, has identified a new treatment strategy that is now being tested. The research has also resulted in an effective way of genetically studying the mechanisms and treatment of cancer.

“We are trying to understand how cancer and progeria occur and to find new treatments," says Martin Bergö.

What, then, is the connection between cancer and progeria? Both diseases are caused by mutations of CAAX proteins. Martin Bergö´s research has gone one step further and shows that both diseases can be treated with the same type of pharmaceuticals. The CAAX proteins that cause progeria and cancer are transported to different stations in the body´s cells.

The transport of CAAX proteins is controlled by a number of enzymes. Martin Bergö is testing his hypothesis that cancer can be treated using pharmaceuticals that block one of these enzymes. The objective of the treatment is to prevent the mutated CAAX proteins from being transported to the parts of the cell where they can cause damage.

In order to test the hypothesis, the team of researchers has bred gene-manipulated mice that develop progeria and different types of cancer. What makes the group´s mouse model unique is that it is also possible to stop production of the enzymes that control the transport of the mutated CAAX proteins.

“When we stopped the production of one of the enzymes, the growth of tumors was drastically reduced in the mice with cancer and in early tests, we have inhibited the occurrence of the bone fractures that are common in mice with progeria. However, although our research indicates that the pharmaceuticals that block these enzymes may be an effective way of treating both diseases in the future, a great deal of research remains to be done," says Martin Bergö.
 
Eric K. Fernström´s Foundation annually awards a personal prize of SEK 100,000 to a young, particularly promising and successful researcher at each of the country´s six medical schools. The prize will be presented on November 5 on Research Day in Lund(Sweden).