A mouse resistant to cancer, even highly-aggressive types, has been created by a team of researchers at the University of Kentucky, the university announced on Tuesday.
The research team found a tumor-suppressor gene called Par-4 in the prostate. They discovered that this gene kills cancer cells, but not normal cells. There are very few molecules that specifically fight against cancer cells, giving it a potentially therapeutic application.
The team led by professor of radiation medicine Vivek Rangnekar introduced it into the egg of a mouse. That egg was then planted into a surrogate mother. Mice born with this gene are not developing tumors. The mice grow normally and have no defects.
In fact, the mice possessing Par-4 actually live a few months longer than the control animals, indicating that they have no toxic side effects.
"The mouse itself does not express a large number of copies of this gene, but the pups do and then their pups start expressing the gene," Rangnekar said. "So, we've been able to transfer this activity to generations in the mouse."
The implications for humans could be that through bone marrow transplantation, the Par-4 molecule could potentially be used to fight cancer cells in patients without the toxic and damaging side effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
"Before this animal study, we published a lot of work indicating that in cell culture, there's no killing of normal cells. This is the proof that it doesn't kill normal cells because the mouse is alive and healthy," said Rangnekar.
Rangnekar admits there is much more work to be done before this research can be applied to humans, but agrees that is the most logical next step.
Source: Xinhua
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