2009-02-25 13:35:04 -

Aaron Ciechanover, MD, DSc, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2004, was a keynote speaker at the Fourth Annual meeting of the Aurora® Breast MRI Society recently held in Puerto Rico.


Dr. Ciechanover spoke about his Nobel Prize winning discovery of how cells break down their proteins. "Understanding the cell degradation process could lead to discoveries that help treat and perhaps someday prevent cancer and other diseases from occurring," Ciechanover stated.


While scientists have long studied how cells are built up or synthesize their proteins, Ciechanover and his colleagues were among the first to look at how they break them down. They found that proteins have varying stabilities. "Some live for many hours and

some live for only a few minutes," he added.


The researchers discovered that a marker, ubiquitin, tags all proteins destined for breakdown, Ciechanover explained. The proteins that have been tagged are then fed into the cells' "waste-disposers," the so-called proteasomes, where they are chopped into small pieces - their basic building blocks, the amino acids. When the normally controlled process falters, it results in an accumulation of undesirable proteins that cause diseases, including certain cancers, neurodegenerative and genetic diseases.


Dr. Ciechanover explained that the research conducted by his group, which looked at a process at the single cell level, coincides with the current research spawned by the Human Genome project, the international effort to sequence and map all 20,000 to 25,000 genes that make up the human genes repertoire.


All of this information about how the body works at the cellular level, Ciechanover said, will not only lead to a greater understanding of disease processes but also to targeted drug and other therapies to stop or prevent them from happening.


These new drugs, some of which are already available, "won't be one-size-fits-all but personalized for each patient and his or her unique cellular functions and aberrations," added Ciechanover.


With respect to breast cancer, Ciechanover commented that he believes that breast MR imaging will play a role in the further development of such personalized medicine, because it will be used to track the efficacy of the new therapies for breast cancer treatment.


The discoveries of his research team and others since have provided a valuable road map for treating and preventing diseases. "That's not to say that the road to future discoveries is going to be easy," Ciechanover said. "But we are not going to stop."


Israeli-born, Dr. Aaron Ciechanover is now a Technion Distinguished Research Professor in the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine Research Institute at the Technion in Haifa, shared the Nobel Prize "for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation" jointly with his graduate studies mentor Avram Hershko, MD, PhD, and Irwin Rose, PhD. Much of their work was done in the late 1970s and early "80s, mostly in Israel and with Rose at the Fox Chase Cancer Institute in Philadelphia.


"What an honor and privilege to have Dr. Ciechanover travel across the world to speak with us" said Kamilia F. Kozlowski, M.D., president, Aurora Breast MRI Society, and medical director/CEO and clinical breast radiologist at the Knoxville Comprehensive Breast Center in Knoxville, Tenn. "Learning about his research and the impact it will have on medicine was truly an inspiration," added Kozlowski.


Dedicated breast radiology professionals attended the annual meeting of the Society, which is dedicated to advancing the use of cutting-edge dedicated breast MRI technology. Participants came not only from Israel and China, but also from Italy, Puerto Rico and across the United States.


About Aaron Ciechanover


Born in Haifa, Israel, Dr. Aaron Ciechanover was a practicing physician before becoming a research biologist. He received his MD in 1974 from the "Hadassah? Medical School of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He received his doctorate in biochemistry in 1982 from the Technion (the Israel Institute of Technology), in Haifa. He is currently a Technion Distinguished Research Professor in the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute at the Technion. He is a member of numerous prestigious bodies, among them the USA National Academy of Sciences and its Institute of Medicine (Foreign Associate). He is a member of the Advisory Board of Aurora Imaging Technology in North Andover, MA.


About the Aurora® Breast MRI Society


Breast radiologists worldwide who are committed to providing patients with state-of-the-art breast imaging have established the Aurora® Breast MRI Society. Society members have selected the Aurora® Dedicated Breast MRI System to offer patients its superior breast imaging and interventional capabilities. To support its mission to advance the use of cutting-edge dedicated breast MRI technology as an effective means to reduce the mortality and morbidity of breast cancer, the Aurora Breast MRI Society's goal is to educate the medical profession, lay public and health care industry about the vital role of breast MRI in the earlier detection of breast cancer and more effective evaluation of breast disease.


For more information about the Aurora Breast MRI Society, or to inquire about becoming a Society member, visit www.aurorabmrisociety.org.








Aurora Imaging Technology, Inc.

Debbie Thomas, 978-975-7530

dthomas@auroramri.com