'Suicidal' cancer cells found in mole rats, offer key to cure

A new species of mole rat has attracted the attention of researchers for its ability to resist cancer with a unique mechanism.

 

The anti-cancer mechanism used by blind mole rats differs from that of naked mole rats, according to .

 

"We expected blind mole rats to have a similar mechanism for stopping the spread of cancerous cells. Instead, we discovered they've evolved their own mechanism," said University of Rochester Assistant Professor Andrei Seluanov.

 

Different mechanisms

 

Biologists at the university, led by Seluanov and Professor Vera Gorbunova, noted the blind mole rats fight off cancer differently from the way that naked mole rats do.

 

They noted abnormally growing cells in blind mole rats secrete the interferon beta protein, which causes those cells to rapidly die.

 

"While people don't use the same cancer-killing mechanism as blind mole rats, we may be able to combat some cancers and prolong life, if we could stimulate the same clean sweep reaction in cancerous human cells," said Gorbunova.

 

The research team also included Christopher Hine, Xiao Tian, and Julia Ablaeva in Rochester, Andrei Gudkov at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY, and Eviatar Nevo at the University of Haifa in Israel.

 

Seluanov and Gorbunova hope the discovery will eventually help lead to new cancer therapies in humans, EurekAlert.org said.

Mole rats
 

Both the blind mole rats and naked mole rats are subterranean rodents with long life spans, and are the only mammals never known to develop cancer.

 

In 2009, Seluanov and Gorbunova determined the anti-cancer mechanism in the naked mole rat — a gene, p16 — makes the cancerous cells in naked mole rats hypersensitive to overcrowding, and stops them from proliferating when too many crowd together.

 

Gorbunova and Seluanov made their discovery by isolating cells from blind mole rats and forcing them to proliferate in culture beyond what usually occurs in the animal.

 

After dividing 15 to 20 times, all of the cells in the culture dish died rapidly.

 

Cellular suicide

 

The researchers determined the rapid death occurred because the cells recognized their pre-cancerous state and began secreting a suicidal protein, interferon beta.

 

Such precancerous cells died by a mechanism which kills both abnormal cells and their neighbors, resulting in a "clean sweep."

 

"Not only were the cancerous cells killed off, but so were the adjacent cells, which may also be prone to tumorous behavior," said Seluanov.