Researchers are gaining a new understanding on how cancer could be potentially be treated and how regenerative medicine could better target diseases, according to reports from the University of California, Merced.
Recent research published in the Journal of Cell Science, has shown that signaling by a protein called Target of Rapamycin (known as TOR and found in humans and most other mammals) is crucial for planaria's unique tissue regeneration.
By demonstrating in a laboratory study that disabling the protein prevents a flatworm's normal regrowth, it's a sign that disabling it in abnormal cells could prevent the growth of a cancer.
"It's a new model in which we can study stem cell behavior by manipulating the signaling pathways," biology Professor Néstor Oviedo conducting the study explained.
Researchers have recognized that the TOR protein plays a role in cancer, aging and degenerative diseases, but they haven't figured out how it works.
Professor Oviedo's laboratory is using tiny flatworms (known as planaria) to help better understand the roles of TOR protein. Relegated
as a scientific oddity, the planarian is now among the species that could be crucial in understanding the role of stem cells. The worm's ability to repair itself is unparalleled, and its secrets could help combat cancer and degenerative diseases.
For the new study, Professor Oviedo's lab disabled the TOR protein in planaria and then amputated parts of the flatworm.
Under typical circumstances, the organism would be able to repair itself. But researchers discovered the planaria's stem cells recognized they needed to regrow tissue but were unable to regenerate it in the correct place and instead formed tissues in abnormal places.
This kind of regeneration hasn't been reported before. Additionally, the planaria with the disabled protein were unable to grow, even if nutrients were available.
In addition to stopping cancer, understanding TOR and its role in regulation could lead to the development of medicines to encourage tissue regeneration and to fight degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's.
Graduate student Harshani Peiris, who was the lead author on the paper, said the planaria
gives researchers the ability to look at the reactions of an entire organism, rather than
just looking at cells in a Petri dish.
"We have a cutting-edge look into what's happening at the system level," Peiris said.
The research was funded by a grant from the UC Cancer Research Coordinating Committee.
Story Source:
University of California, Merced
Journal Reference:
Journal of Cell Science, 2012
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