Scientists are able to take immortality from cancer

Discussion of the 2009 Noble Prize in Medicine, focusing on substances that reduce telomere shortening by activating the human telomerase enzyme

Moderator: ofonorow

ofonorow
Ascorbate Wizard
Ascorbate Wizard
Posts: 15822
Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2005 3:16 pm
Location: Lisle, IL
Contact:

Scientists are able to take immortality from cancer

Post Number:#1  Post by ofonorow » Thu May 14, 2015 6:10 am

Scientists are able to take immortality from cancer
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-05-scientists-immortality-cancer.html
Owen R. Fonorow
HeartCURE.Info
American Scientist's Invention Could Prevent 350,000 Heart Bypass Operations a year

ofonorow
Ascorbate Wizard
Ascorbate Wizard
Posts: 15822
Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2005 3:16 pm
Location: Lisle, IL
Contact:

Re: Scientists are able to take immortality from cancer

Post Number:#2  Post by ofonorow » Thu May 14, 2015 7:32 am

The reason for reading the Aubrey DeGrey book ENDING AGING was to gain another perspective on aging - other than telomeres and telomerase. Turns out there is no better book for this perspective :)

Degrey is approaching the problem of aging from an engineering standpoint, or so he states. The idea is that scientists don't have to completely understand the underlying mechanisms to blunt the effects that lead to aging. Case in point: Telomerase.

His idea is based on the logical way to stop cancer. In his opinion, the way to defeat cancer is to remove the cancer cell's ability to reproduce indefinitely - by deleting the telomerase gene. Since this cannot be targeted at only cancer cells, his "WILT" idea is to delete the gene in the DNA (much like the GULO gene has been deleted so that we no longer make vitamin C. Deleting the gene would make gene expression irrelevant.)

This would of course interfere with all cells that continually reproduce, such as the gut, skin, immune system, bone marrow, etc. and his solution is to periodically replenish stem cell stores with new stem cells with elongated telomeres.

It is interesting that a book dedicated to ending aging - offers a solution to turn off telomerase ?! Give DeGrey points for originality, but his solution to cancer, requires a high level of periodic maintenance replenishing stem cell pools with stem cells with long telomeres, at least every 10 years. I haven't finished the section, but he has not explained how the stem cells to be replenished are engineered with longer telomeres. I am trying to keep an open mind, but the solution has nightmarish qualities. While removing the TERT (telomere) gene may eliminate the possibility of cancer, there must be other ways to fight cancer that don't have such a global impact on our entire bodies. (Not to mention reproduction and continuation of the species.)

Now it is instructive to read DeGrey's WILT proposal, because it illustrates how many stem cell pools there are in various tissues that require telomerase. Given his numbers, these stem cells must already activate some telomerase, otherwise our life spans would be around 10 to 20 years.

And I although this idea is to delete the gene - rather than find a way to merely inhibit telomerase in cancer cells - I am hoping to stumble across cancer research that understand how the TERT gene is expressed or repressed. As DeGrey points out, our genes are being expressed or suppressed all the time. The same DNA exists in all cells, yet some cells become corneal tissue and other cells with the same DNA become bone. The only difference is the expression or suppression of genes as cells "differentiate."
Owen R. Fonorow
HeartCURE.Info
American Scientist's Invention Could Prevent 350,000 Heart Bypass Operations a year

ofonorow
Ascorbate Wizard
Ascorbate Wizard
Posts: 15822
Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2005 3:16 pm
Location: Lisle, IL
Contact:

Re: Scientists are able to take immortality from cancer

Post Number:#3  Post by ofonorow » Thu May 14, 2015 10:14 am

http://www.nature.com/onc/journal/v21/n4/full/1205081a.html

Regulation of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene

Finally, while c-Myc protein was found associated with the hTERT gene in vivo in telomerase-positive promyelocytic leukemia HL60 cells as determined in chromatin immunoprecipitation assays (Xu et al., 2001), differentiation of these cells by DMSO led to downregulation of hTERT, loss of association with c-Myc and binding of the c-Myc antagonist Mad1.


Long review article on what turns on (or off) the hTERT (telomerase) gene mentions DMSO! This effect may explain the anti-tumor effect seen by eDOC and others. Cancers can not long survive without telomerase.
Owen R. Fonorow
HeartCURE.Info
American Scientist's Invention Could Prevent 350,000 Heart Bypass Operations a year


Return to “Telomeres”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 14 guests