PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Scientists discover new molecules that kill cancer cells and protect healthy cells

Research in mice suggests molecules could treat cervical, breast, ovarian, and lung cancers

2015-05-13
(Press-News.org) Amsterdam, May 13, 2015 - A new family of molecules that kill cancer cells and protect healthy cells could be used to treat a number of different cancers, including cervical, breast, ovarian and lung cancers. Research published in EBioMedicine shows that as well as targeting and killing cancer cells, the molecules generate a protective effect against toxic chemicals in healthy cells.

Cells can become cancerous when their DNA is damaged. Many different things can cause DNA damage, including smoking, chemicals and radiation; understanding exactly what happens at the point of DNA damage can help scientists develop new cancer treatments. By studying this mechanism, researchers from the University of Waterloo in Canada could identify new molecules that selectively target cancer cells.

The researchers studied the process of DNA damage using a sort of molecular filming technique called femtosecond time-resolved laser spectroscopy. The technique is like a high-speed camera, which uses two pulses of light: one to start a reaction, and the other to monitor the way the molecules react. This technique let researchers watch how molecules interact in real-time, revealing how cells become cancerous.

Researchers have been using femtosecond laser spectroscopy to study biological molecules for decades, in fields called femtochemistry and femtobiology. More recently, this technique was fused with molecular biology and cell biology techniques to advance our understanding of human diseases, notably cancer, and how their treatments work. This potential new field is being dubbed femtomedicine (FMD).

"We know DNA damage is the initial and crucial step in the development of cancer," said Professor Qing-Bin Lu, lead author of the study from the University of Waterloo, Canada. "With the FMD approach we can go back to the very beginning to find out what causes DNA damage in the first place, then mutation, then cancer. FMD is promising as an efficient, economical and rational approach for discovering new drugs, as it can save resources required to synthesize and screen a large library of compounds."

Taking advantage of the FMD approach, Professor Lu and his colleagues discovered a new family of molecules called nonplatinum-based halogenated molecules, or FMD compounds. These are similar to cisplatin - a drug used to treat ovarian, testicular, lung, brain and other cancers. However, while cisplatin is highly toxic, the new FMD compounds are not harmful to normal cells.

When the FMD compounds enter a cancer cell, they react strongly and form reactive radicals, which cause the cell to kill itself. When the FMD compounds enter a healthy cell, the cell starts to increase the amount of a protective molecule called glutathione (GSH) in the cell. This protects the cell against chemical toxins, so it is not damaged.

The researchers tested the molecules on human cells and in mice, and found very consistent results. They treated human cells - various normal and cancer cells - with the FMD compounds and tested them to see whether the cells were killed. They also tested the levels of GSH in the cells, revealing that the amount of protective molecule increased in the normal cells, while it decreased in cancer cells.

They then tested the FMD compounds on a range of tumors in mice, representing cervical, ovarian, breast and lung cancers. They measured the extent to which the FMD compounds slowed down tumor growth, and found it was effective at slowing or halting the growth of all tumors.

"We're very excited about our discovery; we can see that the FMD compounds are just as effective as cisplatin in mice but without being toxic," said Professor Lu. "We believe that it could potentially be used to treat a very wide rage of cancers, without making patients suffer the toxic side effects that some existing drugs have."

"We want this discovery to help patients, and we plan to move it into clinical trials as soon as possible," added Professor Lu.

INFORMATION:

Article details "In Vitro and In Vivo Studies of Non-Platinum-Based Halogenated Compounds as Potent Antitumor Agents for Natural Targeted Chemotherapy of Cancers" by Qing-Bin Lu, Qin-Rong Zhang, Ning Ou, Chun-Rong Wang and Jenny Warrington (doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2015.04.011). The article appears in online EBioMedicine, published by Elsevier.

The article is available as open access paper:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235239641500105X
http://www.ebiomedicine.com/article/S2352-3964(15)00105-X/abstract

For more information or to schedule an interview with the authors, contact Elsevier's Newsroom at newsroom@elsevier.com or +31 20 4853564

About EBioMedicine The effective translation of insights gained from biomedical research into improved human health is a global priority. To this end, Elsevier has looked to the leadership of its two leading brands, Cell and The Lancet, to guide the launch of a new comprehensive, online-only open access, rapid publication Elsevier journal, EBioMedicine, focused on forming a community that spans this interface and creates a valuable opportunity for dialogue and collaboration between their respective audiences. As the communities that border this interface are large and diverse, the scope of EBioMedicine covers the entire breadth of translational and clinical research within all disciplines of life and health sciences, ranging from basic science to clinical and public/global health science. The journal is committed to facilitating and incentivizing a robust and successful pipeline for improved human health globally (http://www.ebiomedicine.com).

About Elsevier Elsevier is a world-leading provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology professionals, empowering them to make better decisions, deliver better care, and sometimes make groundbreaking discoveries that advance the boundaries of knowledge and human progress. Elsevier provides web-based, digital solutions -- among them ScienceDirect, Scopus, Elsevier Research Intelligence and ClinicalKey -- and publishes over 2,500 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and more than 33,000 book titles, including a number of iconic reference works. Elsevier is part of RELX Group plc, a world-leading provider of information solutions for professional customers across industries. http://www.elsevier.com



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Where do the happiest children live?

2015-05-13
London/Zurich, May 13, 2015: Children in European countries tend to report higher levels of satisfaction with their friendships while children in African countries tend to be happier with their school lives. Children in northern European countries are particularly dissatisfied with their appearance and self-confidence. Most of the 50,000 children in the 15 countries rated their satisfaction with life as a whole (on a scale from zero to ten) positively, but the percentage of children with very high well-being (10 out of 10) varied from around 78% in Turkey and 77% in Romania ...

New test could identify resistant tuberculosis faster

2015-05-13
The time needed to genetically sequence the bacteria causing tuberculosis (Mtb) from patient samples has been reduced from weeks to days using a new technique developed by a UCL-led team. This could help health service providers to better treat disease, control transmission of this infection, and monitor outbreaks. Tuberculosis (TB) disease rates in some parts of London are as high as in Sub-Saharan Africa, and drug-resistant strains are becoming increasingly common. These require specific treatments, and if doctors know that a bug is resistant they can start therapy ...

A sobering thought: 1 billion smokers and 240 million people with alcohol use disorder, worldwide

2015-05-12
A new study published today in the journal Addiction has compiled the best, most up-to-date evidence on addictive disorders globally. It shows that almost 5% of the world's adult population (240 million people) have an alcohol use disorder and more than 20% (1 billion people) smoke tobacco. Getting good data on other drugs such as heroin and cannabis is much more difficult but for comparison the number of people injecting drugs is estimated at around 15 million worldwide. The "Global Statistics on Addictive Behaviours: 2014 Status Report" goes further in showing that ...

Dartmouth team devises use of food dye, near infrared light to aid in breast resection

2015-05-12
Roughly 1 in 4 women having breast conserving surgery (BCS) return to the surgical suite for further resection because of cancerous tissue left behind due to unclear margins. Investigators at the Optics in Medicine Lab at Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering and Norris Cotton Cancer Center, led by Brian W. Pogue, PhD and Keith Paulsen PhD, with first author and PhD candidate David M. McClatchy III, devised a novel approach to perform near infrared (NIR) optical measurements of resected breast tissue after the margins have had their traditional marking by the surgeon ...

Study finds repetitive brain injuries may accelerate aging, dementia risk

2015-05-12
(Boston)--Repetitive head injuries that occur during contact sports and military service may accelerate the aging process by increasing the build-up of beta-amyloid in the brain, leading to worse disease and an increased likelihood of developing dementia. In particular, boxers fared the worst among athletes and military veterans with a history of head injuries. These findings, which currently appear online in the journal Acta Neuropathologica, is the first to establish the age-dependent deposition of beta-amyloid in chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and may lead ...

Wetlands continue to reduce nitrates

Wetlands continue to reduce nitrates
2015-05-12
URBANA, Ill -- Wetlands created 20 years ago between tile-drained agricultural fields and the Embarras River were recently revisited for a new two-year University of Illinois research project. Results show an overall 62 percent nitrate removal rate and little emission of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas. "Slowing down the rate of flow of the water by intercepting it in the wetland is what helps to remove the nitrate," says Mark David, a University of Illinois biogeochemist in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. "The vegetation that ...

Using decisional bias as an implicit measure of moral judgment

2015-05-12
The act of identifying a perpetrator does not just involve memory and thinking, but also constitutes a moral decision. This is because, by the act of identifying or not identifying someone, the eyewitness runs the risk of either convicting an innocent person or letting a guilty person go free. In an article published recently in Archives of Scientific Psychology, Spring et al. (2015) discuss two studies in which children and adolescents of different ages watched a film involving a potential wrong-doing: throwing a lit birthday cake into a wastebasket, either with or without ...

A sobering thought: One billion smokers and 240 million people with alcohol use disorder, worldwide

2015-05-12
A new study published today in the journal Addiction has compiled the best, most up-to-date evidence on addictive disorders globally. It shows that almost 5% of the world's adult population (240 million people) have an alcohol use disorder and more than 20% (1 billion people) smoke tobacco. Getting good data on other drugs such as heroin and cannabis is much more difficult but for comparison the number of people injecting drugs is estimated at around 15 million worldwide. The "Global Statistics on Addictive Behaviours: 2014 Status Report" goes further in showing that ...

Breakthrough in tinnitus research could lead to testable model

2015-05-12
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Tinnitus is the most common service-related disability for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Often described as a ringing in the ears, more than 1.5 million former service members, one out of every two combat veterans, report having this sometimes debilitating condition, resulting in more than $2 billion dollars in annual disability payments by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Tinnitus is largely a mystery, a phantom sound heard in the absence of actual sound. Tinnitus patients "hear" ringing, buzzing or hissing in their ears much like ...

Huntington's disease monkeys display progressive clinical changes and neurodegeneration

2015-05-12
Transgenic Huntington's disease monkeys show similarity to humans with Huntington's in their progressive neurodegeneration and decline of motor control, scientists from Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, report. These findings are promising for developing a preclinical, large animal model of Huntington's disease for assessing new therapeutics, which could ultimately provide better treatment options, including altering the course of the disease. In this first multiyear study on a transgenic nonhuman primate model for Huntington's, lead author ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Less intensive works best for agricultural soil

Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation

Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests

Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome

UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership

New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll

Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes

University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025

Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025

AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials

New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age

Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker

Chips off the old block

Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia

Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry

Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19

Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity

State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections

Young adults drive historic decline in smoking

NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research

Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development

This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack

FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology

In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity

Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects

A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions

AI helps unravel a cause of Alzheimer's disease and identify a therapeutic candidate

Coalition of Autism Scientists critiques US Department of Health and Human Services Autism Research Initiative

Structure dictates effectiveness, safety in nanomedicine

Mission accomplished for the “T2T” Hong Kong Bauhinia Genome Project

[Press-News.org] Scientists discover new molecules that kill cancer cells and protect healthy cells
Research in mice suggests molecules could treat cervical, breast, ovarian, and lung cancers