# Fighting Leukemia with Imatinib

Leukemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of white blood cells. Worldwide, around 350,000 people were diagnosed with leukemia in 2008. The pecularity of Leukemia, in contrast to cancer in general, is that the cells involved in uncontrolled rapid cell growth, are blood cells - in particular, white blood cells.

The blood components naturally found in blood, are:

- Red blood cells (erythrocytes), delivering oxygen to the body tissues via the blood flow
- Blood platelets (thrombocytes), growth factors involved in hemostasis, leading to the formation of blood clots.
- White blood cells (leukocytes), involved in defending the body against both infectious disease and foreign materials

Leukemia damages the bone marrow, by way of displacing the normal bone marrow cells with higher numbers of immature white blood cells, which results in a lack of blood platelets. White blood cells, which are involved in fighting pathogens, may be suppressed or dysfunctional. This could cause the patient's immune system to be unable to fight off a simple infection or to start attacking other body cells. Hence, leukemia prevents the immune system from working normally. Finally, the red blood cell deficiency leads to anemia.

On the right side you can see the structure of the protein C-ABL kinase in complex with the active pharmaceutical ingredient Imatinib. Imatinib is a drug for the treatment of Leukemia.

The ABL tyrosine kinase has been implicated in processes of cell differentiation, cell division, cell adhesion, and stress response. Medical scientists associate mutations in the structure of ABL tyrosine kinase with the development of Leukemia.

Imatinib (Source: Wikipedia)

Imatinib is a drug used to treat certain types of cancer. It binds to the site of tyrosine kinase activity, the so-called binding pocket, and prevents its activity.

Below, you can examine the particular components of the protein complex in detail.

### Options

- Show only Imatinib
- Show ABL tyrosine kinase
- Show the binding pocket of ABL tyrosine kinase with Imatinib

Imatinib is currently marketed by Novartis as Gleevec (USA) or Glivec (Europe/Australia/Latin America).

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