BACTERIAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM COULD BE USED TO STOP CANCER CELLS
Cancer, while always
dangerous, truly becomes life-threatening when cancer cells begin to spread to
different areas throughout the body. Now, researchers at the University of
Missouri have discovered that a molecule used as a communication system by bacteria
can be manipulated to prevent cancer cells from spreading. Senthil Kumar, an
assistant research professor and assistant director of the Comparative Oncology
and Epigenetics Laboratory at the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, says this
communication system can be used to "tell" cancer cells how to act,
or even to die on command.
"During
an infection, bacteria release molecules which allow them to 'talk' to each
other," said Kumar, the lead author of the study. "Depending on the
type of molecule released, the signal will tell other bacteria to multiply,
escape the immune system or even stop spreading. We found that if we introduce
the 'stop spreading' bacteria molecule to cancer cells, those cells will not
only stop spreading; they will begin to die as well."
In the study published in PLOS ONE, Kumar, and
co-author Jeffrey Bryan, an associate professor in the MU College of Veterinary
Medicine, treated human pancreatic cancer cells grown in culture with bacterial
communication molecules, known as ODDHSL. After the treatment, the pancreatic
cancer cells stopped multiplying, failed to migrate and began to die.
"We used pancreatic cancer cells, because those are the
most robust, aggressive and hard-to-kill cancer cells that can occur in the
human body," Kumar said. "To show that this molecule can not only
stop the cancer cells from spreading, but actually cause them to die, is very
exciting. Because this treatment shows promise in such an aggressive cancer
like pancreatic cancer, we believe it could be used on other types of cancer
cells and our lab is in the process of testing this treatment in other types of
cancer."
Kumar says the next step in his research is to find a more
efficient way to introduce the molecules to the cancer cells before animal and
human testing can take place.
"Our biggest challenge right now is to find a way to
introduce these molecules in an effective way," Kumar said. "At this
time, we only are able to treat cancer cells with this molecule in a laboratory
setting. We are now working on a better method which will allow us to treat
animals with cancer to see if this therapy is truly effective. The early-stage
results of this research are promising. If additional studies, including animal
studies, are successful then the next step would be translating this
application into clinics."
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