- Thanks to Wired, I was tipped off on an article published in Nature about a type of stem cell that seems to be at the heart of the most advanced brain tumors in adults and children. It is considered stem-cell like since its chief marker, CD133, is a protein associated with embryonic nerve cells, and because it has tremendous ability to reproduce. In one dramatic experiment, 16 of 19 mice injected with CD133-positive human tumor cells developed tumors. Of the 15 that received tumor cells negative for CD133 markers, none developed tumors, though traces of the cells were still found in the mouse brains during dissection, implying that while these human cells could live in the mouse, they could not develop a tumor on their own. This opens a new dimension into how cancer develops (and where these so-called "stem cells" really come from), and also hints that a CD133 blocker may be a new weapon against cancer. Considering that an advanced brain tumor right now is more or less a death sentence within a year, this could be quite important! Dysfunctional stem cells were previously known to be at the heart of leukemia, but this is the first solid tumor with a stem cell as its apparent source.
- There's some interesting Type I diabetes research where Harvard researcher Denise Faustman seems to have suppressed the autoimmune reaction against beta-cells in the pancreas which leads to insulin depletion and diabetes. What's really neat is that beta cells seem to spontaneously regenerate when the autoimmune reaction is suppressed, promising a knock-down cure for that disease. I read about this on the NY Times, but it's now no longer open for free access, so check out this blurb from Do No Harm about the research and Lee Iacocca's funding initiative for Dr. Faustman.
- Check out the Public Library of Science, an organization that publishes peer-reviewed scientific journals that are free to the public and entirely online.
Jerry
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Very interesting stuff, Jerry. It's always nice to see how we don't necessarily have to compromise morality for practicality. That may be the first significant work I've read about that specifically addresses Type I diabetes from an autoimmune angle…
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Posted 20 Nov 2004 at 4:30 am ¶Glad you enjoyed it. In addition to providing a possible cure for insulin-dependent diabetes that's ethically permissible, it also has a plain old "gee whiz" factor to it.
I hope to generate more interest in the Public Library of Science. People should be able to see how science gets published; their taxes pay for an awful lot of it, and they have a lot of talking heads tell them why they should support space shuttle missions, NIH funding, etc. But until now you needed to pay a pretty penny for subscriptions or belong a hospital, university or corporation that subscribed to these places.
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Posted 20 Nov 2004 at 5:54 am ¶Post a Comment