I have just found an interesting news, that I should like to share with you: “Successfully tested in mice a molecule against colorectal cancer and melanoma”.
An international team of scientists, led by researchers from the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) has discovered a new type of compound, with antitumor "powerful effect", in animal models of colorectal cancer and melanoma.
Image of a melanoma
The results are published in the journal Cancer Cell, and, according to the CSIC, “Several companies are interested –still in Conversations-- in the compound, to explore their possible applications, in human tumor therapy”.
Specifically, the scientists have identified a molecule (DEL-22379), that manages to kill tumor cells, according to the study director, Piero Crespo, a CSIC researcher, at the Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria.
Crespo, in avowals to Efe, has indicated that the function of this molecule was completely unknown, until now, and one of the things demonstrated, in this work, is that it reduces the primary tumor, in mice, and prevents metastasis.
"To date, it has been proven the effectiveness of DEL-22379, in animal models of melanoma and colon cancer; but it has also begun to test for thyroid, lung and pancreatic cancer", the scientist has added, in a note of the CSIC .
In the development of cancers is crucial the biochemical pathway, RAS-ERK (set of proteins that regulate cell proliferation): "about 50% of human tumors carry mutations in a component of this route", detailed Crespo.
This route, comprised by four proteins, under normal conditions, is operated, in response to extracellular signals, that dictate cells, when and how much to proliferate.
The four proteins are activated one another, sequentially and successively, coupling a chain transmission, through which are operated the necessary mechanisms for cell proliferation; making an analogy, it is like a relay race, where A activates B, B to C and C activates D.
In tumor cells, the mutations, in any of the components, of already said biochemical pathway, causes already said chain drive is aberrantly activated, constantly, so that the cells proliferate uncontrollably.
Pharmaceutical companies take 25 years seeking molecules to inhibit the activity of any component of the route, to halt the proliferation of tumor cells, ie, compounds which block the activity of one of the four proteins.
"The result of that research are a number of drugs, currently used in the treatment of several types of tumors, with less successful of the effects to be expected" , according to Crespo.
Therefore, in this work, we have tried a new strategy: uncouple the connection between any of the proteins, to prevent the following is activated (continuing the analogy, prevent that one pass the baton to another).
This is just what gets the molecule, described in Cancer Cell, "avoiding a protein-protein association, the aberrant signals flow is blocked, through the RAS-ERK pathway".
The next step, before a possible move to the clinical trial, is to improve the pharmacological properties of the compound and do more analysis of toxicity, in mice (according to Crespo, the toxicity of the tested molecule, till now, is very low).
However, you must be cautious, because the 80%, of the discovered antitumor compounds, fails to pass from laboratory animals to humans: "even if it was so, the importance of this finding lies in the concept, much more than in the compound itself ".
Well, I hope that you hope this news open a great door, in advance against cancer, as I do.
Until my next post, kind regards,
Luis.
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