Team studying rare disorder discovers novel way to target melanoma

Source: Eurek Alert, December 2018

While studying a rare genetic disorder called NGLY1 deficiency, University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) researchers discovered a new targeted treatment for combating melanoma, a skin cancer that kills about 9,000 people in the United States each year.

Their research was recently published in the British Journal of Cancer.

The discovery came when UNT System College of Pharmacy scientists were studying a missing protein that plays a role in NGLY1 deficiency, a disorder so rare that only about 60 patients worldwide have been diagnosed since it was identified in 2012. While trying to understand this newly identified genetic disorder, the team discovered that melanoma cells are surprisingly vulnerable to the loss of NGLY1 activity, said Yu-Chieh Wang, PhD, senior author and Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

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