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microRNA replacement (gene) therapy may stop cancer in its tracks
...and they have found two microRNAs that seem to be related to her2+ breast cancer so this might be going somewhere!!!
MicroRNA replacement therapy may stop cancer in its tracks
A new study suggests that delivering small RNAs, known as microRNAs, to cancer cells could help to stop the disease in its tracks. microRNAs control gene expression and are commonly lost in cancerous tumors. Researchers have shown that replacement of a single microRNA in mice with an extremely aggressive form of liver cancer can be enough to halt their disease, according to a report in the June 12 issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication.
They delivered the microRNA to the mice using a virus that has been applied in other forms of gene therapy. That so-called adeno-associated virus (AAV) is particularly good at targeting new genetic material to the liver.
"Mice given the control virus showed no change in the growth rate of their tumors and within three weeks, the cancer had taken over," said Joshua Mendell of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "When we gave them the microRNA-carrying virus, some animals showed essentially complete regression of their tumors." In other cases, he said, the tumors were much smaller and far fewer.
Mendell said his team, which included his father Jerry Mendell at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, was hopeful the strategy would work based on previous evidence. Nonetheless, he added, "it is always surprising to see results this striking."
They were also amazed by how specifically the microRNA affected cancer cells, while leaving normal cells unscathed. "We found that the tumor cells are exquisitely sensitive [to microRNA replacement]--they not only stopped proliferating, but they actually died," he said. Meanwhile, the mice showed no evidence of any damage to their normal liver tissue.
MicroRNAs are important regulators of gene activity, the researchers explained, and a single microRNA can have far-reaching effects. That's because an individual microRNA can influence hundreds of gene transcripts to coordinate complex programs of gene expression and affect global changes in the physiology of a cell. A growing body of evidence shows that microRNAs are essential for normal development and to keep cells in balance. By the same token, when microRNAs get out of whack, they can lead to disease.
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