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US Scientists Successfully 'Switch Off' Cancer Cells

Posted by Soulskill on from the no-need-for-seek-and-destroy-missiles dept.

iONiUM sends news that Mayo Clinic cancer researchers have developed a technique to reprogram cancer cells in a lab, essentially "turning off" their excessive cell growth. That code was unraveled by the discovery that adhesion proteins — the glue that keeps cells together — interact with the microprocessor, a key player in the production of molecules called microRNAs (miRNAs). The miRNAs orchestrate whole cellular programs by simultaneously regulating expression of a group of genes (abstract). The investigators found that when normal cells come in contact with each other, a specific subset of miRNAs suppresses genes that promote cell growth. However, when adhesion is disrupted in cancer cells, these miRNAs are misregulated and cells grow out of control. The investigators showed, in laboratory experiments, that restoring the normal miRNA levels in cancer cells can reverse that aberrant cell growth.

4 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. I'll believe it when I see it.... by MagickalMyst · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When I see it in practice with proven real world results.

    Too often these promising studies generate all kinds of hype and then disappear shortly thereafter.

    --
    Political correctness is really just herd psychology pushed by insecure people who desperately seek social conformity.
    1. Re:I'll believe it when I see it.... by Talderas · · Score: 4, Informative

      We have not found a cure for either. What we have found is more effective treatments that reduce the rate of mortality. Earlier detection of cancers allows doctors and surgeons to treat and operate on cancers before they have time to grow and spread. We can get to a point where we no longer detect cancerous cells in your body but you are by no means cured because the detection is not absolute.

      Treatments for HIV has helped many people avoid having it develop into AIDS but we haven't cured HIV. The people going through treatments still have HIV and are still at risk of it developing into AIDS.

      --
      "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
  2. obligatory xkcd by juanfgs · · Score: 5, Informative

    yadda yadda https://xkcd.com/1217/

  3. Rundown by fey000 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    While the title is misleading click-bait, there is potential to this discovery. Here's a rundown:

    We already knew that miRNA (which is a regulator/anti-virus peptide working on DNA) was silencing tumour-suppressing genes, this is very old stuff.
    We already knew that re-introducing tumour suppressing proteins into cells that lack them would remove the carcinogenic behaviour.
    We did not know that adhesive proteins (a part of the external cell stuff that is commonly called Extra-Cellular Matrix (ECM)) regulated miRNA in proximal cells. This is very interesting stuff, and leads to several intriguing possibilities. What if you flood a cancer site with adhesive proteins attached to a membrane connecting peptide? Will that upregulate tumour-suppressing proteins? What happens when you do this to healthy cells? If the response in heathy cells is low, this could be a universal "low-risk, unknown reward" medication for multiple cancer types, something cancer treatment has long lacked (all non-crazy-person treatments are dangerous to healthy tissue now).

    So, while not the panacea the title suggests, it's certainly an intriguing discovery.