Disarm the tumor
Scientists have transformed a malignant tumor into a benign one
The results of a study conducted on mouse glioma cells are published in the Journal of Pathology: Sielska et al., Distinct roles of CSF family cytokines in macrophage infiltration and activation in glioma progression and injury response. (A popular summary of the work is published on the website of the Nencki Institute: Malignant brain tumours can be transformed into benign forms – VM.)
In the nervous system, in addition to neurons and glial cells, there are microglial cells – a special class of phagocytes that destroys foreign agents in it (bacteria, viruses and tumor cells). Sometimes glial cells still become cancerous, forming brain tumors – gliomas. With a benign form of the tumor, the chances of survival of patients are quite high, while with malignant gliomas, patients, as a rule, rarely live more than a year.
In their previous studies, a group of scientists led by Professor Kaminska showed that malignant gliomas are able to "reprogram" microglial cells so that they support the development of the tumor, and not fight it. Similarly, tumors can affect peripheral macrophages that migrate to the brain from the blood and bone marrow.
During the study, scientists found that a certain protein, cytokine CSF2, is responsible for changing the behavior of microglial cells. In benign tumors, this protein is produced in small quantities, while in malignant gliomas there is a lot of it.
The scientists then turned off the gene responsible for the production of CSF2 protein in mouse glioma cells. As a result, tumor cells lost their ability to affect microglial cells, and the immune system began to work. The malignant tumor, as expected by the authors of the work, was transformed into a benign one. According to the researchers, in the future, this technology, capable of disabling the CSF2 protein gene, will open up a new possibility of human gene therapy.
Based on the results obtained, Kaminska's research team created short peptide molecules that prevent the binding of the CSF2 protein secreted by tumor cells to the corresponding receptors on microglial cells. Thus, the signal coming from tumor cells is blocked, and microglial cells can no longer be subjected to "reprogramming".
Taking into account the effectiveness of the effect of these molecules on the behavior of the tumor, Professor Kaminska and colleagues are currently going to test the effectiveness of this method on human malignant glioma cells.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru01.10.2013