{"id":1044,"date":"2015-08-26T02:43:10","date_gmt":"2015-08-26T02:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kurzweilai.net\/?p=260257"},"modified":"2015-08-27T03:56:51","modified_gmt":"2015-08-27T03:56:51","slug":"how-to-reprogram-cancer-cells-back-to-normal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/2015\/08\/26\/how-to-reprogram-cancer-cells-back-to-normal\/","title":{"rendered":"How to reprogram cancer cells back to normal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Schematic of cell adhesion (credit: Wikipedia)<\/p><\/div>\n

A way to potentially reprogram cancer cells back to normalcy has been discovered by researchers on Mayo Clinic\u2019s Florida campus.<\/p>\n

The finding, published in\u00a0Nature Cell Biology<\/em><\/a>, represents \u201can unexpected new biology that provides the code, the software for turning off cancer,\u201d says the study\u2019s senior investigator,\u00a0Panos Anastasiadis, Ph.D.<\/a>, chair of the\u00a0Department of Cancer Biology<\/a>\u00a0on Mayo Clinic\u2019s Florida campus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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MicroRNAs — short, non-coding RNAs present in all living organisms that were formerly considered “junk DNA” — have been shown to regulate the expression of at least half of all human genes. These single-stranded RNAs exert their regulatory action by binding messenger RNAs and preventing their translation into proteins. (credit: Firefly BioWorks)<\/p><\/div>\n

That code was unraveled by the discovery that adhesion proteins<\/a> — the glue that keeps cells together — interact with a key player in the production of molecules called microRNAs<\/a> (miRNAs).<\/p>\n

The miRNAs orchestrate whole cellular programs by simultaneously regulating expression of a group of genes. The investigators found that when normal cells come in contact with each other, a specific subset of miRNAs suppresses (or blocks) genes that promote cell growth.<\/p>\n

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 normal miRNA levels in cancer cells can reverse that aberrant cell growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe study brings together two so-far unrelated research fields \u2014 cell-to-cell adhesion and miRNA biology \u2014 to resolve a long-standing problem* about the role of adhesion proteins in cell behavior that was baffling scientists,\u201d says the study\u2019s lead author Antonis Kourtidis, Ph.D.<\/a>, a research associate in Anastasiadis\u2019 lab. \u201cMost significantly, it uncovers a new strategy for cancer therapy,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

<\/strong>\u201cBy administering the affected miRNAs in cancer cells to restore their normal levels, we should be able to re-establish the brakes and restore normal cell function,\u201d Anastasiadis says. \u201cInitial experiments in some aggressive types of cancer are indeed very promising.\u201d<\/p>\n