Following a flawless arrival Monday morning at the International Space Station, the bulk of the month-long science initiatives from the Dragon spacecraft have begun for the Station\u2019s four United States Operating Segment (USOS) crew members from NASA and the Canadian Space Agency.<\/p>\n
Among the multitude of investigations launched aboard SpaceX\u2019s CRS-17 Dragon include an experiment to investigate a potential new targeted cancer treatment process, an experiment that seeks to develop better controlled-release drug delivery systems, a cardiovascular and heart health investigation, and a kidney health experiment.<\/p>\n
National Cancer Institute NeXT Space Crystallization Program 18 (PCG-18):<\/i><\/p>\n
The PCG 18 experiment from the National Cancer Institute will specifically look at the Taspase1 enzyme as a potential way to develop a \u201cpotent anti-cancer drug target\u201d for highly aggressive forms of cancer such as leukemia, HER2 positive drug resistant breast cancer, and glioblastoma.<\/p>\n
Taspase1 itself is overexpressed in most forms of human cancer, making it an excellent potential target for anti-cancer drugs when seeking out cancer cells to destroy.<\/p>\n
However, in order to develop drugs that can target the Taspase1 enzyme, understanding its structure becomes key \u2013 and is also the problem when investigating the enzyme underneath the forces of gravity on Earth. <\/p>\n
Crystals with enzymatically active Taspase1 have been grown on Earth, and extensive resources have been given to improving growing conditions to allow for high-resolution detail of the enzyme\u2019s structures.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n