(Press-News.org) The follicle stimulating hormone, FSH, targets the human reproductive organs: the ovaries and testicles. In women, it stimulates maturation of ovarian follicles and production of oestrogens (via its action on granulosa cells). In men, it stimulates production of spermatozoa (via its action on the Sertoli cells).
FSH receptor, which was the subject of the work carried out by the Inserm researchers, is normally only found in cells stimulated by FSH (granulosa cells in women and Sertoli cells in men). However, it is also present in very small quantities in the blood vessels of the ovaries and testicles...and this is what alerted the researchers.
The vascular network is one of the most important constituents of cancerous tumours. It is essential to their maintenance and growth in the organism. The majority of cancerous tumours can even create new vessels in order to survive. The researchers, therefore, undertook an in-depth study aimed at determining if FSH receptor was present in the blood vessels of tumours.
1336 patients and 11 cancers
Nicolae Ghinea and his colleagues from Inserm studied biopsies taken, after surgery, from 1336 patients afflicted with cancer. The presence of FSH receptor was monitored in the tumours, which ranged from being at a very early stage to being at the later stages, for 11 types of cancer (cancers of the prostate, breast, colon, pancreas, bladder, kidneys, lungs, liver, stomach, testicles and ovaries).
The results obtained demonstrated the presence of this receptor in all the samples, regardless of the type or stage of the tumour. By contrast, this receptor was totally absent in the other normal tissues of the organism, including the normal tissue of the organ that was carrying the tumour.
Simple detection by imaging
In general, blood vessels which express FSH receptor are found at the periphery of the tumour. The receptor is specifically localized on the surface exposed to the blood (luminal) of the endothelial cells, which carpet the vessel walls (see box), making them an easy target for diagnostic and therapeutic agents injected in the blood.
These two characteristics (absence from normal tissues and localization on the luminal surface of endothelial cells) make it a very promising biological marker and an interesting candidate for imaging and therapy. The researchers have already performed successful detection experiments through imaging in mice.
Towards clinical confirmation
Further experiments are required to confirm the detection of the FSH receptor by testing imaging procedures currently used in hospitals (MRI, PET and ultrasound imaging). The researchers believe that this receptor will be able to act as a general target for anti-cancer drugs as well as for agents which destroy or block blood vessels in tumours.
INFORMATION:
For more information:
Expression of Follicle-Stimulating Hormone Receptor in Tumor Blood Vessels
Aurelian Radu, Ph.D., Christophe Pichon, Ph.D., Philippe Camparo, M.D.,Martine Antoine, M.D., Yves Allory, M.D., Anne Couvelard, M.D., Gaëlle Fromont, M.D., Mai Thu Vu Hai, Ph.D., and Nicolae Ghinea, Ph.D.
From Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York (A.R.); and Inserm Unité 753, Villejuif (C.P.), Val-de-Grâce Hospital, Paris (P.C.), Tenon Hospital, Paris (M.A.),Inserm Unité 955-Eq 07, Université Paris-Est, Créteil (Y.A., M.T.V.H., N.G.), Beaujon Hospital, Clichy (A.C.), and Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Poitiers, Poitiers (G.F.)
N Engl J Med 2010;363:1621-30. 21 octobre 2010
Contact chercheur :
Nicolae Ghinea
Directeur de recherche Inserm
Unité 955 « Centre Mondor de recherche biomédicale »
Tél. 01 49 81 36 66
Email : nicolae.ghinea@inserm.fr
Hydroelectric power is the oldest and the "greenest" source of renewable energy. In Germany, the potential would appear to be completely exploited, while large-scale projects in developing countries are eliciting strong criticism due to their major impact on the environment. Researchers at Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) have developed a small-scale hydroelectric power plant that solves a number of problems at the same time: The construction is so simple, and thereby cost-efficient, that the power generation system is capable of operating profitably in connection ...
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---A groundbreaking new equation developed in part by researchers at the University of Michigan could do for organic semiconductors what the Shockley ideal diode equation did for inorganic semiconductors: help to enable their wider adoption.
Without the Shockley equation, the computers of today would not be possible.
Developed in 1949 by William Shockley, the inventor of the transistor, the Shockley equation describes the relationship between electric current and voltage in inorganic semiconductors such as silicon.
The new equation describes the ...
Recent work by Dr. David Lohman, assistant professor of biology at The City College of New York, suggests the Philippines, considered by biologists to be a "biodiversity hotspot," could have more unique species of birds than previously thought. If that proves to be the case, it could have important ramifications for conservation practices there.
Many of the animal species found in the Philippines are endemic to this nation, which is made up of more than 7,100 islands. For example, 64 percent of its land mammal species and 77 percent of its amphibians are not found anywhere ...
In the brain, dopamine is involved in a number of processes that control the way we behave. If an action results in the substance being released, we are more likely to repeat the action. This applies to actions such as eating, sexual intercourse or winning a competition. However, the same also holds true when individuals take harmful narcotics. Scientists believe that mental illnesses such as schizophrenia can be linked to dopamine imbalances.
Learning signal
If an action leads to a better response than expected, the brain will temporarily release more dopamine. If ...
Over the last few decades, the dramatic rise in pediatric obesity rates has emerged as a public health threat requiring urgent attention. The responsibility of identifying and treating eating and weight-related problems early in children and adolescents falls to health care providers and other professionals who work with the child, according to Professor Denise Wilfley and colleagues from the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in the US. Furthermore, the key to successful treatment is a team effort involving providers and parents.
Wilfley's ...
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Results of a new Women's Health Initiative (WHI) report show that hormone therapy is associated with an increased the risk of death from breast cancer, as well as an increased risk of developing invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women.
Jean Wactawski-Wende, PhD, professor of social and preventive medicine at the University at Buffalo and one of the primary authors on the paper, published today in JAMA, says the breast cancers found in these women also tended to have more lymph node involvement, indicating a poorer prognosis.
"This report, which ...
WASHINGTON — Motherhood may actually cause the brain to grow, not turn it into mush, as some have claimed. Exploratory research published by the American Psychological Association found that the brains of new mothers bulked up in areas linked to motivation and behavior, and that mothers who gushed the most about their babies showed the greatest growth in key parts of the mid-brain.
Led by neuroscientist Pilyoung Kim, PhD, now with the National Institute of Mental Health, the authors speculated that hormonal changes right after birth, including increases in estrogen, ...
Montreal, October 20, 2010 – Daily sleeping and eating patterns are critical to human well-being and health. Now, a new study from Concordia University has demonstrated how the brain chemical dopamine regulates these cycles by altering the activity of the "clock-protein" PER2. Published in the Journal of Neuroscience, these findings may have implications for individuals with Parkinson's Disease with disrupted 24-hour rhythms of activity and sleep.
"PER2 is a protein well-known for its role in the regulation of daily or circadian rhythms, this is why it is referred to ...
The UK's National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is working to provide more reliable measurement of the electrical properties of materials used in nanotechnology – which could lead to much more accurate devices in the future.
Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) won the Nobel Prize in 1986. It uses a nano-sized probe to feel the surface of a material – akin to a finger reading Braille on an extremely small scale. The technique can also measure the electrical properties of materials used in nanotechnology – and "feel" how the materials react when electricity is passed through it. ...
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 20, 2010 -- Microbes living at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico may consume far more of the gaseous waste from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill than previously thought, according to research carried out within 100 miles of the spill site.
A paper on that research, conducted before the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded six months ago today, will appear in a forthcoming issue of the journal Deep-Sea Research II. It describes the anaerobic oxidation of methane, a key component of the Gulf oil spill, by microbes living in seafloor brine pools.
"Because ...
