Breast cancer and non-coding RNAs
Cancer grows faster than breastAlexandra Borisova, "Newspaper.
Ru»Breast cancer cells gain an advantage in growth compared to normal breast cells.
This was shown to a group of scientists, which included Russian specialists from the Institute of General Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.
Breast cancer is the most common tumor disease in women. Despite its external localization, when formally doctors have all the possibilities for timely diagnosis and treatment, it still remains the main direction in the search for new means of chemo-, radio- and more modern methods of therapy. The main reasons are the rapid malignancy of the process and rather late diagnosis. Most often, women come for treatment in the late stages of the disease, as they do not attach importance to the signs of the disease in the early stages.
Individual cells remaining after surgical removal of the tumor can metastasize – migrate to various organs and tissues (most often bones and lungs). Chemotherapeutic drugs do not have a selective effect on metastases, they suppress the growth of all cells indiscriminately.
Not so long ago it was found out that the so-called micro-RNA plays a significant role in the development of breast cancer. This ribonucleic acid belongs to non–coding RNAs - these are RNA molecules that are not translated into proteins. Non–coding RNAs include RNA molecules that perform very important functions in the cell - transport RNAs (tRNAs), ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs), small RNAs, in particular micro-RNAs, as well as so-called long non-coding RNAs.
It turned out that despite the fact that these molecules are not translated into proteins, they play an important role in the development of the tumor. In particular, several types of micro-RNA almost completely ceased to be expressed ("multiply") in tumor cells, and the restoration of this process contributed to stopping metastasis.
The latest issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published a detailed study of the role of non-coding RNAs in the development of tumors (Reo Maruyama et al., Altered antisense-to-sense transcript ratios in breast cancer), conducted by an international team of authors, including Russian scientists from the Institute of General Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. The authors note that non-coding RNAs play a very important role both in normal physiological processes and in the development of tumors, but scientists realized this not so long ago, and the study of this area is just beginning.
Biologists were able to study the differences in the regulation of the growth of normal and tumor cells, determined by long non-coding RNAs. "The newspaper.Ru" one of its authors, an employee of the Institute of General Genetics Yuri Nikolsky, told about the work.
– What is the main result of the published work?
– We have shown for the first time that in cancer cells, namely in breast cancer cells, the so-called antisense regulation is removed from certain metabolic genes. This means that cancer cells gain an advantage in growth compared to normal breast cells. In this work, we did a functional analysis of genes, the entire laboratory part of it was done at the Harvard University School of Medicine.
– In an interview with the Newspaper.En" Professor Carlo Croce from Ohio University noted that genetics is a priority and the future of cancer treatment. Do you agree with this?
– Of course, but this is too general a statement. Genetics has been the priority and future of cancer treatment for 30 years. If we talk about the last two or three years, then, I would say, the priority has shifted to the field of biological pathways of carcinogenesis and systemic biology of cancer.
The fact is that cancer cells are genetically very heterogeneous, i.e. the set of genetically modified genes differs greatly between patients even in one type of cancer. This means that cancer needs to be treated individually, based on a unique set of mutations, deletions and other genetic disorders in each tumor. So far, this is not possible for several reasons.
However, the modified genes are not scattered randomly, but are combined into certain signaling and biochemical pathways, and it is the pathway (and not a single gene or protein) that should be the object of therapy and diagnosis. In general, we are engaged in the analysis of cancer pathways, cooperating with several leading laboratories and clinics in the USA.
– Are there (or are there any planned) practical applications of your research?
– Our results are used in an experimental program for the treatment of "incurable" tumors in the state of Michigan.
– Tell us about the international team of scientists who worked on the article.
– The work was based in the laboratory of Professor Cornelia Polak from Harvard University Medical School. We have been cooperating with them for five years and have published some quite interesting articles. The work continues, now we have three more joint ongoing projects. At the Institute of General Genetics in Moscow, the project is headed by Marina Bessarabova.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru25.11.2010