An Israeli researcher has announced the discovery of a plant molecule that could lead to a cure for cancer.
Prof. Shaul Yalovsky of Tel Aviv University (TAU), has identified a fat molecule that can trigger cell growth in plants, acting like a switch to “turn on” growth. Yalovsky has suggested that the same mechanism may be able to work in reverse to “turn off” growth, and could be applied to reverse growth in cancerous tumours.
The fat molecule identified by Yalovsky modulates a group of proteins responsible for cell growth called ROPs. In humans, similar proteins are involved in the development of nerve cells in the brain, wound healing and also produce the chemical signals that trigger metastasis in cancer cells.
ROPs bind to another kind of molecule called GTP, which then becomes another molecule called GDP, which in turn renders the ROPs inactive. The research team was able to utilise the switch mechanism in plant molecules to reshape plant cells, trigger new tissue growth and even respond to viral and bacterial infections, by creating a mutated molecule that prevents ROPs from binding to the GTP molecules.
The research team believe they are very close to developing a molecule that could control this ROP-like switch in human tissues. Thus scientists may be able to manipulate these proteins to “turn on”, speeding cell growth and tissue healing, or in the case of malignant tumours, “turn off” the process, which would inhibit cell division and effectively halt the growth of cancers.
For further details, see:
http://www.israel21c.org/201007208126/health/a-cancer-turn-off