Swiss and American researchers have found a way to reprogram cancer cells so they can become healthy again. This discovery was published in Nature Cell Biology this Monday.
Teams from the Mayo Clinic in Florida, and the Geneva University discovered that adhesion proteins, which are involved in the cell binding mechanisms, interact with miRNAs molecules that orchestrate cellular programs, regulating simultaneously a group of genes. When normal cells connect, miRNAs inhibit cell growth.
First promising experiments
But if the connection is disrupted in cancer cells, miRNAs are deregulated and cells reproduce endlessly. Laboratory experiments have shown that it is possible to stop this growth by managing miRNAs in cancer cells.
The first experiment on types of aggressive cancers are very promising, says the Mayo Clinic. The study provides an answer to a problem on the role of adhesion proteins, but it also opens the door to a new strategy in the therapy against cancer.
