Stem cells, potential source of cancer-fighting T cells - Pakistan Observer
"Cancer immunotherapy is a promising method to treat cancer patients," said Jianxsun Song, Ph.D., assistant professor, microbiology and immunology. "Tumors grow because patients lack the kind of antigen-specific T cells needed to kill the cancer.
An approach called adoptive T cell immunotherapy generates the T cells outside the body, which are then used inside the body to target cancer cells."
It is complex and expensive to expand T cell lines in the lab, so researchers have been searching for ways to simplify the process.
Song and his team found a way to use induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which are adult cells that are genetically changed to be stem cells.
"Any cell can become a stem cell," Song explained. "It's a very good approach to generating the antigen-specific T cells and creates an unlimited source of cells for adoptive immunotherapy."
By inserting DNA, researchers change the mouse iPS cells into immune cells and inject them into mice with tumors. After 50 days, 100 percent of the mice in the study were still alive, compared to 55 percent of control mice, which received tumor-reactive immune cells isolated from donors.
Researchers reported their results and were featured as the cover story in a recent issue of the journal Cancer Research.
A limitation of this potential therapy is that it currently takes at least six weeks for the iPS cells to develop into T cells in the body. In addition, potential side effects need to be considered. iPS cells may develop into other harmful cells in the body.
Researchers are now studying how to use the process in human cells. Other researchers on this paper are Fengyang Lei, and Rizwanul Haque, Department of Microbiology and Immunology; Lynn Budgeon and Neil D. Christensen, Ph.D., Department of Pathology, Penn State College of Medicine.
Their observations came after conducting a study in which 32 slightly overweight men and women were fed a diet made of specially powdered food. For six days, participants consumed a diet composed of 65 percent carbs, 15 percent protein and 20 percent fat.
After another week of no diet, they were then put on a six-day diet in which they cut the carbs in half and consumed twice as much protein and fat. Researchers gleaned their information from blood tests.
Lead author Berit Johansen said the study yielded two important findings: the positive effect of eating multiple meals throughout the day and the fact that a carb-rich diet - regardless of whether or not the person overeats - can negatively affect the body at the molecular level."A healthy diet is about eating specific kinds of foods so that that we minimize the body's need to secrete insulin.
26 Sep, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFRXdjoCb2f8YiokpUvexw92SQdWQ&url=http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=116378
~
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com
