So far it has only been tested on human cells in the lab, but the researchers are hopeful that the technique could one day be used to target tumours so that cancer could be “switched off” without the need for harsh chemotherapy or surgery.
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The research represents “an unexpected new biology that provides the code, the software for turning off cancer”, according to the Mr Anastasiadis, chair of the department of cancer biology at the Mayo Clinic’s campus in Florida.
The research identified two key components within the adhesive molecules that allow cells to combine to form tissue.
“When K-Ras is locked in the on position, it drives cell division, which leads to the production of a cancer”, said the study’s senior author John Hancock from The University of Texas Health Science Centre at Houston (UTHealth) in the US.
He said microRNA molecules within the adhesive structure could be reprogrammed to behave as normal.
Cancer cells are like normal cells-they just grow abnormally. This connection, the researchers maintain, not only explains the seemingly incongruous presence of adhesion proteins in cancer cells, it also suggests a way to reprogram rogue cancer cells, restoring normal behavior.
The researchers are of a firm belief that they can replicate the benefits for many other types of cancers as well.
The study shows that when normal cells come together, a specific group of miRNAs suppresses genes that encourage cell growth.
The scientists discovered that removal of that mechanism switches on cancer development, and vice versa – the mechanism can be restored by delivering MicroRNA molecules to cancer cells, reversing the spread of the disease.
“[We identify] two spatially and functionally distinct junctional complexes in non-transformed polarized epithelial cells”, wrote the authors. It was not until they studied a new protein – called PLEKHA7 – that associates with E-cadherin and p120 that they found the answer. The other complex is growth promoting. “The PLEKHA7-microprocessor complex co-precipitates with primary microRNAs (pri-miRNAs) and possesses pri-miRNA processing activity”.
But replenishing cells with miRNAs can remedy this.
A protein called PLEKHA7 is very important as helps healthy cells clump together.
The loss of PLEKHA7 protein “is an early and somewhat universal event in cancer”, Anastasiadis said.
“By administering the affected miRNAs in cancer cells to restore their normal levels, we should be able to re-establish the brakes and restore normal cell function”.
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The findings of the UTHealth study are viewed as vital in the development of treatments for some of the deadliest types of cancers such as colon, lung and pancreatic cancers.
