Summer is almost here, which means it’s time to make sure we keep our skin as protected as possible against the harmful UV radiation.
Almost in time with the season, a team of scientists from the University Of Southern California discovered a so-called “sunscreen gene” that could keep melanoma – the most severe form of skin cancer – at bay.
Researchers noticed that melanoma patients who presented mutant or deficient versions of the “UV radiation Resistance Associated Gene” were less protected from the damaging ultraviolet rays.
“If we understand how this UV-resistant gene functions and the processes by which cells repair themselves after ultraviolet damage, then we could find targets for drugs to revert a misguided mechanism back to normal conditions,” explained Chengyu Liang from the USC.
According to medical reports, over 90 percent of the cases of melanoma skin cancer develop because cells were damaged from being exposed to UV radiation.
People who have low levels of the UV-resistant gene could be at higher risk of skin cancer, especially if they are frequent beach-goers or tanning fans, explained the team.
This study could be the proof that having the UV-resistant gene might be a biomarker for preventing skin cancer. For the research, medical data from 340 melanoma patients was used.
At the same time, the team worked with an experimental group with reduced levels of the UV-resistant gene and a control group with a mutant copy of that gene in melanoma cells and 50 fly eyes.
What they did was give a UV shot to cells with the normal UV-resistant gene and to cells that carried defective copies of it. A day later, the cells carrying normal versions of the gene were able to repair more than 50 percent of the damaged cells.
On the other hand, the defective samples had repaired less than 20 percent of the UV-induced damage. In simpler terms, people with the normal UV-resistant gene can repair the UV-induced sunburns that can occur when they sunbathe or go tanning, whereas those with the defective copy of the gene will have more damage left unrepaired.
In turn, this damage translates into an increased risk of developing skin cancers such as melanoma. Researchers noted their study merely presents a correlation between the sunscreen gene and skin cancer.
Image Source: Barefoot Traveller
Deborah Campbell
