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【生命科学】改良水果实验意外收获: 发现组织癌
By Hebrew University researchers
Experimental work aimed at improving the quality of fruit has led to the discovery by Hebrew University of Jerusalem agricultural researchers of a promising new avenue of drug treatment for halting the growth and spread of cancer cells in animals and humans.
Their approach has been shown to inhibit the malignant cells without affecting normal cells and without the severe side effects of traditional treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy. The strategy involves isolating the malignant tumor from its nutritional and oxygen supplies, thereby halting its growth and stopping metastases (spread of cancer cells to other parts of the body).
The work on the project was carried out at the Hebrew University Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences in Rehovot by Prof. Oded Shoseyov, Dr. Levava Roiz, Dr. Patricia Smirnoff and Dr. Betty Schwartz. Their discoveries were published recently in the journal Cancer of the American Cancer Society.
The approach of the Hebrew University researchers is based on the actions of actibind, a protein that is produced by the black mold Aspergillus niger and that is a well-known microorganism used in bio and food technology. In plants, actibind binds actin, a major component of the intracellular structure in plants, interfering with the plants' pollen tubes and halting cell growth.
While the Hebrew University researchers were initially interested in the activity of actibind in connection with a horticultural project aimed at improving the quality of peaches and nectarines, an actibind-like protein, RNaseT2, was also subsequently found to bind actin in human and animal migrating cells, such as the cells that are responsible for new blood vessel formation (angiogenesis) in tumors.
By blocking the blood supply to the tumors, actibind halted the ability of malignant cells to move through the blood stream to form new metastases. A further plus is that actibind is not toxic to normal cells, thereby significantly minimizing the risk of side effects.
In laboratory experiments using cell cultures that originated from human colon cancer, breast cancer and melanoma, increasing the level of actibind was found to reduce the ability of these cells to form tumorogenic colonies. Further experimentation, with a variety of animal models, showed that the increased actibind inhibited the growth of colon cancer-derived tumors, metastases and blood vessel formation. These promising discoveries were detailed in the Cancer article.
The results shown in working with actibind led to a further development in the researchers' project. During the completion of the human genome project, the gene encoding for RNaseT2, the human actibind-like protein, was found on chromosome 6. The Hebrew University team used genetic engineering procedures to produce a recombinant RNaseT2 protein that showed an impressive anti-cancer potential. These results have raised broad interest in international scientific meetings and in business circles.
The fungal actibind and the human RNaseT2 represent the basis for a new class of drugs that could be used as a front-line therapy in the fight against cancer, say the researchers.
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Professor Oded Shoseyov of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
screen.width-333)this.width=screen.width-333" width=200 height=150 title="Click to view full 1348_rel.jpg (200 X 150)" border=0 align=absmiddle> 改良水果实验意外收获: 发现阻止癌症扩散新途径
Jerusalem，Hebrew大学的农业研究员在对改良水果质量的实验中有了意外发现。他们发现了一个能够阻止动物和人体内癌症细胞生长和扩散的新的药物治疗途径。这个途径已经显示能够在抑制恶性细胞的同时不影响正常细胞，并且不像传统疗法如放化疗具有严重副作用，具有良好前景。这个方法主要截断恶性肿瘤的营养和氧气供给，从而阻止它们的生长和迁移（癌症细胞转移到身体其它部位）。
这项工作主要是由Rebovot，Hebrew 农业食品和环境质量科学院的Shoseyov 教授，Roiz博士，Smirnoff博士以及Schwartz博士共同完成的。他们的这个发现最近刊登在美国癌症社会的cancer杂志上。
这个Hebrew大学研究员们发现的途径主要建立在actibind蛋白的作用机制上，这个蛋白是由黑曲霉素（常用于生物和食品工艺的微生物）产生的。在植物中，actibind，它与植物细胞间结构主要组成部分的肌动蛋白结合，从而阻碍细胞花粉管的形成和组织细胞生长。
最初Hebrew大学研究者对actibind活动与园艺工艺的关系感兴趣，想通过这方面的研究改良桃和油桃的质量。随后，他们发现，RNaseT2，actibind类似蛋白，在人类和动物迁移细胞中与肌动蛋白相结合。而这些移动细胞负责肿瘤中新血管的形成（血管发生）。
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2011-02-24 17:11
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