Posted on 07/07/2007 1:13:04 AM PDT by neverdem
Turning Stem Cells Taken From Fat Tissue Into Personalized, Cancer-targeted Therapeutics
Researchers in Slovakia have been able to derive mesenchymal stem cells from human adipose, or fat, tissue and engineer them into "suicide genes" that seek out and destroy tumors like tiny homing missiles. This gene therapy approach is a novel way to attack small tumor metastases that evade current detection techniques and treatments, the researchers conclude in the July 1 issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
"These fat-derived stem cells could be exploited for personalized cell-based therapeutics," said the study's lead investigator, Cestmir Altaner, Ph.D., D.Sc., an associate professor in the Cancer Research Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava. "Nearly everyone has some fat tissue they can spare, and this tissue could be a source of cells for cancer treatment that can be adapted into specific vehicles for drug transport."
Mesenchymal stem cells help repair damaged tissue and organs by renewing injured cells. They are also found in the mass of normal cells that mix with cancer cells to make up a solid tumor. Researchers believe mesenchymal stem cells "see" a tumor as a damaged organ and migrate to it, and so might be utilized as a "vehicle" for treatment that can find both primary tumors and small metastases. These stem cells also have some plasticity, which means they can be converted by the micro environment of a given tissue into specialized cells, Altaner says.
After extracting the stem cells from human fat tissue the researchers worked to find a less toxic way to treat colon cancer than the standard-of-care chemotherapy agent, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), which can produce toxic side effects in normal cells. They expanded the number of mesenchymal stem cells in the laboratory and then used a retrovirus vector to insert the gene cytosine deaminase into the cell. This gene can convert a less toxic drug, 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC), to 5-FU inside the stem cells, and the chemotherapy can then seep out into the tumor, producing a lethal by-stander effect.
In nude mice -- animals with an inhibited immune system -- engrafted with human colon cancer, the researchers first injected the engineered mesenchymal stem cells, then 5-FC. They found tumor growth was inhibited by up to 68.5 percent in the animals, and none of the mice exhibited any signs of toxic side effects.
However, none of the animals remained tumor-free. "The procedure was quite effective even though we applied the stem cells just once. Obviously, repeated treatment will increase the efficacy, as would using this strategy in combination with other treatments," Altaner said.
Normal mesenchymal cells can be isolated from various sources, including bone marrow, but the yield is not nearly as great as what the researchers derived from fat tissue. Removal of fat tissue during surgery to remove a tumor would be simple, says Altaner. Liposuction could also be used to isolate mesenchymal stem cells can also be gathered and isolated through liposuction, and the cells frozen in liquid nitrogen for future therapeutic use. Both processes would be easier than taking bone marrow from a patient, Altaner said.
The study was funded by grants from the Slovak Academy of Sciences and the League Against Cancer, and support from the Slovakian national cancer genomics program.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by American Association for Cancer Research.
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Stem cell ping
I think its a conspiracy to weaken American since fat is a natural food substance required for many body functions esp for the brain; and by removing it from the food supply it will cause people to become more susceptible to the usual MSM bull$h!t propaganda passing for news.
I believe a man can still be healthy and have a little bit of a gut.
The gladiators of ancient Rome were powerful guys with good amount of body fat that protected their bodies from serious injury to major organs.
The steroidal vein popping bodies that are so popular now days are just not practical to maintain and can cause health problems especially with the liver.
I miss t-bone steaks with marbling.
I nominate this for understatement of the century
Although healthy fat is a nutritive component of food, I believe this article mentions human adipose tissue-derived fat cells genetically modified to fight cancer. Consuming fat in itself won’t have the same effect.
Fat provides 9 calories per gram, more than twice the number provided by carbohydrates or protein.
If we don't use this energy for work and basal metabolism, it is stored as more fat. We have an increasing epidemic of obesity and its risk for high blood pressure, aka hypertension, hypertensive cardiomyopathy, adult onset diabetes, aka type II diabetes, maturity onset diabetes of the young(MODY), metabolic syndrome, degenerative joint disease, aka osteoarthritis, of the weight bearing joints and coronary heart disease off the top of my head. IIRC, some types of cancer and both of the major types of stroke also have their risks increased from obesity.
Scientists Alarmed At Rate Of Bird Flu In Indonesia, 80% of people infected are dying now.
Girl could give birth to sibling
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
Bump
Jusr asking, but is this research related in any way to the movie “Lorenzo’s Oil” about treating those who suffer from multiple sclerosis?
You can't get whole chocolate milk anymore, it is all low fat or fat free. Regular, (non-low fat) yogurt doesn't even exist.
Here is a clue: Try to buy chocolate pudding made with whole milk. All of the 'snack' pudding cups claim to be made with skim or low fat milk, yet they have just as many fat grams as if they were made with whole milk. Why? Because the pudding producer skims off the good, expensive butterfat and subsitutes cheap, unhealthy vegatable trans fats.
“Regular, (non-low fat) yogurt doesn’t even exist.”
Sure does:
http://www.stonyfield.com/OurProducts/
You actually have to stir down the cream that rises to top before you eat it.
You can find a distinct difference in taste for the same brand of products that are available in the US, versus those that are available in Europe.
In Europe, they are much more stringent regarding the addition of hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated fats in manufactured food products.
It would probably also be best to use unpasteurized cream.
The necessity of Omega oils is becoming more universally accepted. It is likely that many drugs could be eliminated if omega oils were emphasized instead.
There is a very famous story about the dad of a son with epilepsy found a nutritionist that was successfully using the ketonic diet to treat seizures where no drugs had been able to do the job.
I recall seeing the doctor of the little boy being interviewed on TV and he admitted he knew about the ketonic diet but said he hadn't exhausted all drugs yet and besides no one can make money on a ketonic diet.
Lorenzo’s disease is adrenoleukodystrophy (ADL), not multiple sclerosis. The cells that make up the myelin sheath that insulates nerve tissue (analogous to insulation on wire) isn’t replenished as is other tissue in the body through nutrition as they die off. This leads eventually to the nervous system incrementally “shorting out” over time.
Why, because it feeeeeeeeels good.
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