With narrow bodies and no collarbones, mice are able to squeeze through holes as small as a quarter-inch in diameter.
Cancer cells similarly are able to migrate through extremely tight quarters but with a major difference: The journey often comes at a price – the deformation and, in some cases, rupture of the outer lining of a cell’s nucleus. While deformation and rupture can sometimes lead to cell death, the cell – about 90 percent of the time – also has the ability to repair itself.
A research group headed by Jan Lammerding, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Cornell University, has been studying this phenomenon in hope of using it to develop both treatment and diagnostic solutions for the millions of people who deal with cancer every day.
There is also the possibility that a ruptured cell could mutate into a more aggressive form of the disease.
“You have so many migrating cells,” Lammerding said, “that even if a small fraction of them picks up a mutation, it means the cancer is evolving. The good part is, this rupturing also makes the cancer cell vulnerable. Most cells in the body stay in place, and it’s presumably mostly cancer cells that are moving around. So if we can block the mechanisms that allow them to repair themselves, then we potentially could target metastatic cancer cells.”
The group looked at two factors in the cell’s migration process: the rupturing of the nuclear envelope, which they tracked using green and red fluorescent proteins normally localized to the cell nuclei, but that spill into the cell body when the nucleus ruptures; and damage to the cell’s DNA.
“We’re still trying to find out if there are differences between cells, and a lot of what we see is very similar between normal cells and cancer cells,” he said, adding that by trying to identify potentially unique deformation-and-repair properties of cancer cells, treatments that are minimally deleterious to healthy cells may be developed.
“Now that we kind of know what we’re looking for, now that we know the molecular pathways that these work in,” he said, “could we then specifically target invasive cancer cells and not have the sledgehammer that hits everything?”
Learn more: Self-repairing cancer cells future of cancer treatments
The Latest on: Self-repairing cancer cells
via Google News
The Latest on: Self-repairing cancer cells
- Smart materials: From tiny robots to colour-swapping clotheson February 18, 2021 at 2:17 am
Some "animate" materials are already here: self-repairing paint and concrete that can patch itself up have made it into commercial products. But more applications are on their way. "This is a really ...
- Packing more juice in lithium-ion batteries through silicon anodes and polymeric coatingson February 5, 2021 at 6:14 am
He specializes in lithium-ion secondary batteries, metal-air batteries, electrocatalysis, solid polymer electrolytes, ionic liquids, and organoboron compounds, as well as solar cells and ...
- Scientists just mapped the great white shark's genome, revealing clues that may help us heal wounds and fight canceron January 29, 2021 at 3:59 pm
Very low risk of cancer. No, scientists aren't describing ... great white sharks may offer clues about the genetic underpinnings of self-repairing DNA. For the first time, scientists have ...
- Even machines need their greenson January 27, 2021 at 8:05 am
The idea for this bio-inspired ink came from trees that harness the power of photosynthesis to produce glucose that transform to cellulose and strengthen the plant's cell structure. "When trees ...
- Scientists engineer ‘living materials’ – in solution inspired by trendy Kombucha Teaon January 27, 2021 at 6:14 am
“This is important to the Army as this can lead to new materials with potential applications in microbial fuel cells, sense and respond systems, and self-reporting and self-repairing materials.
- Chloroplast-fortified 3D-printer ink may strengthen productson January 26, 2021 at 3:59 pm
Designer Protein Patches Boost Cell Signaling Jan. 6, 2021 — A new class of protein material that interacts with living cells without being absorbed by them can influence cell signaling, a new ...
- Kombucha tea sparks creative materials research solutionon January 26, 2021 at 10:55 am
"This is important to the Army as this can lead to new materials with potential applications in microbial fuel cells, sense and respond systems, and self-reporting and self-repairing materials." ...
- Researchers test new combination therapy for head and neck canceron January 24, 2021 at 12:52 am
Washington: Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have tested a new combination therapy in animal models to see if they could find a way to make an already effective treatment even better.
- The NSF 2026 Idea Machine!on February 9, 2020 at 12:59 am
It could help us to influence economic trends or to untangle the cellular interactions that lead to cancer. The efficiency of emergent ... These new materials could exhibit properties such as ...
- Changing The Properties of DNA: Scientists Have a New Way to Fight Canceron October 24, 2016 at 1:21 pm
Promising data has revealed a new treatment for breast cancer and leukemia. It works by attacking cancer cells’ ability to repair pathways (specifically, damaged pathways) in their DNA.
via Bing News