New research finds the code to ‘reprogram’ cancer cells

“It represents an unexpected new biology that provides the code, the software for turning off cancer”. Eventually they pinpointed the problem, a protein called PLEKHA7, which was present in healthy cells, but was absent in cancerous cells.

Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center have discovered a new way to manipulate molecular switches in the body that could help alter the development of cancer cells.

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.

It brings together two strands of science – cell adhesion and microRNA (miRNA) biology – that, until now, had not been linked.

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.

“What we have shown is that the electrical potential (charge) that a cell carries is inversely proportional to the strength of a K-Ras signal”, Hancock said.

Scientists had thought adhesion molecules were simply the glue that holds cells together. When they do, the final step is to instruct the cell to stop dividing. But in cancer that process does not work. Yong Zhou, Ph.D., first author and assistant professor of integrative biology and pharmacology at UTHealth Medical School, said, “Our results may finally account for a long-standing but unexplained observation that many cancer cells actively try to reduce their electrical charge”.

And, crucially, they found that they could reverse the process, switching the brakes back on and stopping cancer. These instruct the cell to make a protein called PLEKHA7 which, in just the right amount, stops cell division. These mutations have also been found to lock the K-Ras molecular switch in an activated position.

“These [cancer] cells are already missing PLEKHA7″.

“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”, Dr Anastasiadis told the BBC. When normal cells come into contact with one another, a subset of miRNAs supresses genes that lead to cell growth. “We are now working on better delivery options”. The research claimed that it is absolutely within the realms of possibility to turn highly unsafe bladder cancers normal again.

Prof. Anastasiadis says they believe this is an “early and somewhat universal event in cancer”.