This study is another step in the process of validating the c-myb gene as a potential target for new cancer drugs, said Prem Reddy, Ph.D., professor and director of the Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology at Temple University School of Medicine.

Knowing that the c-myb gene played a role in the spread of leukemia, the researchers wanted to determine the gene ™s normal function. This was accomplished by deleting the c-myb gene in a mouse model. New technology allowed the scientists to delete c-myb from one specific type of tissue in the model rather than from the entire organism.

We removed the c-myb gene from T cells and in the process discovered that c-myb is required for white blood cell formation, said Reddy. In other research conducted by the team but not yet published, c-myb was deleted from breast tissue.

The researchers believe that this gene plays a critical role in breast cancer and want to show the effects of its deletion on breast tumor cell proliferation.

The group ™s research is providing detailed genetic explanations of how and why c-myb is essential for the proliferation of white blood cells and breast cells by demonstrating that when it ™s removed, cell proliferation is impaired and the risk of developing cancer is reduced.

We hope to develop a drug that blocks the harmful activity of this gene in the near future. This finding was very serendipitous. We used to think c-myb was only associated with the development of leukemia but found that it ™s also involved in the development of breast cancer, said Reddy.

Other researchers on the team include the study ™s first author, Yen K. Lieu, Atul Kumar, Anthony G. Pajerowski, and Thomas J. Rogers.

temple

A key objective for Bionomics this year has been to accelerate its epilepsy diagnostic and drug discovery programs. One of our aims was to bring the SMEI test to market with a partner this year and with Athena, we are on track to achieve this in the world ™s largest epilepsy market, said Bionomics CEO and Managing Director, Dr Deborah Rathjen. This will not only generate revenue for the Company but is also further validation of our genomics platform. The generation of revenues from diagnostic tests based on Bionomics ™ patented gene discoveries will provide a basis for fast-tracking our epilepsy drug discovery program to provide improved treatment strategies for patients with epilepsy.

Bionomics is working with an extensive network of collaborative partners within Australia and the US in its epilepsy program including the Women ™s and Children ™s Hospital, Adelaide, the University of Melbourne, the Howard Florey Institute, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Southern Cross University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Emory University and the Brigham and Women ™s Hospital, a teaching Hospital of Harvard University.

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