How Gleevec works to alleviate symptoms of myeloid leukemia, 3D animation with basic narration
Description:
View the animation to find out how the drug Gleevecâ„¢ inhibits the molecular cause of chronic myeloid leukemia.
(DNAi Location: Applications > Genes and Medicine > Drug design > How Gleevec works)
Transcript:
Chronic myeloid leukemia is a disease caused by a genetic mutation that gives rise to this abnormal protein molecule. The abnormal protein triggers the bone marrow to release dangerous numbers of white blood cells. Gleevec, the thin molecule shown here in blue, has a specific shape which blocks the active site of the abnormal protein. By binding to the active site, Gleevec prevents the trigger protein from causing the release the white blood cells and alleviates the symptoms of the disease.
Professor Charles Sawyer explains that CML stands for chronic myeloid leukemia, which is a blood cancer and it is different from many cancers because it starts very slowly and patients when they're first diagnosed don't have many symptoms.
In this section learn that tyrosine kinases are a family of activator proteins that trigger the cell signaling process leading to cell growth and division.
Conventional cancer drugs are cellular poisons that block replication or some other aspect of cell growth. These drugs affect all cells – healthy or cancerous.
CML causes an increased production of white blood cells. Bud and Yvonne talk about the breakthrough that brought Bud's white blood cell count back to normal.