In a development that can redefine how cancer Treat the researchers in South Korea I managed to reverse behavior Cancer cellsHe pushes them to act like Natural tissue Again – without eliminating them. The strategy tested Colon and rectal cancerIt aims to Re -programming Malignant cells instead of destroying them.
Work Professor Quang Hyun Chu And his team in The Advanced Korea Institute for Science and Technology (Kaist) in Daijon, South Korea. Instead of attacking tumors with chemotherapy or radiation, researchers have developed a way to direct cancer cells again towards a different health condition using an accounting model known as a Digital twin.
A different approach to cancer
Traditional remedies often depend on aggressive techniques to kill cancer cells, which can cause damage to the surrounding tissues and come with intense side effects. This new approach, described in the magazine Advanced scienceAvoid this road completely. The researchers provided a system that depicts the regulatory networks of the internal genes of individual cells to determine a specific set of genetic organizations that control the cell behavior.
The main idea behind this technique is called The return of cancerIt is the use of these organizers to change cells from a differently prolonged state to a natural tissue -like condition. “A simultaneous judge kick MyBand HDAC2And Foxa2The researchers wrote: “-Three major organizers who were identified in the study-” highly urged the differentiation into natural similar cells. “
Digital twins and logical networks
The backbone of this research is a specially designed arithmetic frame Benin (Inference the logical network and control). Use RNA one cell Data from healthy and cancerous colon tissue, the model rebuilds logic -based genes. It defines the molecular keys in the network – determines whether the cell becomes malignant or remains stable.
When the researchers applied interest in data from 4,252 intestinal cells, they rebuilt a 522 -gene network and found that by inhibiting MyB, HDAC2 and Foxa2, they can redirect genetic expression patterns of cancer cells. These changes were simulated in the silico and then tested in Laboratory growth Colon and rectal cancer lines and in mice.
The results were consistent with multiple platforms. The cancer cells treated with a trigger genetic kneeling not only stopped beating quickly, but also began to express the same molecular signs in Health intestinal cellsThey are the cells responsible for absorbing nutrients in the intestine.
It was validated in the laboratory and mice
In a series of experiments, the team used three different lines of colon and rectal cancer cells –HCT-116And ht-29 and Caco-2– He emphasized that growth slowed dramatically after the triggering genetic judge. The effect was stronger than any genetic judge’s blow alone. In addition, when modified cells were injected into Mice that suffer from immunodeficiencyThe tumor growth has decreased dramatically in both size and weight compared to control groups.
The study also compare Atlas of the Genome Cancer. They found that the treated cells have almost identical versions of copies with the neighboring tissues. Signs of protein associated with healthy coli cells, including KRT20 and VDRIt was high, while the paths of tumors like MyC and Wnt It was suppressed.
Behind the colon
To assess the broader capabilities of Benin, the researchers applied the model on other biological systems. in The development of mouse hippocampusThe system successfully defined the organizational goals of the distinction of granular neurons. It was also tested The development of T -cells Activation, as other well -known tools such as scenic landscapes and events outperformed the main organizers.
Although the challenges remain-such as the model of different types of tissues and ensuring stability in the long-term cells that have been returned-the results are a great departure from traditional cancer treatments. The researchers argue that if these genetic controls can be harnessed clinically, the effects of cancer treatment may be long -term.
Full study entitled Control of the paths of cellular differentiation for cancer repulsionIt was published on December 11, 2024, in Advanced science.