Biologists determine how blind mole rats fight off cancer

In continuation of my update on mole rats..

Biologists at the University of Rochester have determined how blind mole rats fight off cancer-and the mechanism differs from what they discovered three years ago in another long-lived and cancer-resistant mole rat species, the naked mole rat.

The team of researchers, led by Professor Vera Gorbunova and Assistant Professor Andrei Seluanov, found that abnormally growing cells in blind mole rats secrete the interferon beta protein, which causes those cells to rapidly die. Seluanov and Gorbunova hope the discovery will eventually help lead to new cancer therapies in humans. Their findings are being published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Blind mole rats and naked mole rats-both subterranean rodents with long life spans-are the only mammals never known to develop cancer. Three years ago, Seluanov and Gorbunova determined the anti-cancer mechanism in the naked mole rat. Their research found that a specific gene-p16-makes the cancerous cells in naked mole rats hypersensitive to overcrowding, and stops them from proliferating when too many crowd together.

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

Biologists determine how blind mole rats fight off cancer

An extra protein gives naked mole rats more power to stop cancer

A protein newly found in the naked mole rat may help explain its unique ability to ward off cancer. The protein is associated with a locus that is also found in humans and mice. It's the job of that locus to encode several cancer-fighting proteins. The locus found in naked mole rats encodes a total of four cancer-fighting proteins, while the human and mouse version encodes only three.

An extra protein gives naked mole rats more power to stop cancer  

Scientists identify why African naked mole-rat feels no pain when exposed to acid

In continuation of my update  naked mole-rat

Scientists identify why African naked mole-rat feels no pain when exposed to acid: British researchers of the Max Delbr-ck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch have found out why the African naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber), one of the world's most unusual mammals, feels no pain when exposed to acid.

Ref : http://www.mdc-berlin.de/en/news/2011/20111220-mdc_researchers__ion_channel_makes_african1/index.html

Naked mole rats may help cure cancer - health - 22 September 2009 - New Scientist

Naked mole rats may help cure cancer - health - 22 September 2009 - New Scientist

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Scientists Discover Gene that 'Cancer-Proofs' Rodent's Cells

In my earlier blog, I did mention about how naked mole rats may help cure cancer. The same researchers have achieved something interesting i.e., they have discovered have discovered the gene that "cancer-proofs the naked mole". For details...

Researchers identify three drugs as possible therapeutics for COVID-19

In continuation of my update on Amodiaquine and nebivolol

amodiaquine

Zuclopenthixol

Nebivolol

Based on virtual and in vitro antiviral screening that began in the earlier months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the researchers led at UTHSC by Colleen Jonsson, PhD, identified zuclopenthixol, nebivolol, and amodiaquine as promising therapeutics for the virus in its early stages.

Dr. Jonsson is a professor and the Endowed Van Vleet Chair of Excellence in Virology in the College of Medicine at UTHSC. She also directs the UTHSC Regional Biocontainment Laboratory (RBL), where this research was conducted. The university's RBL is one of roughly a dozen federally funded labs authorized to safely study contagious pathogens.

In a paper published in ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science, the researchers propose the drugs as possible candidates for testing in future clinical trials to improve immune response to the virus. Amodiaquine is an older antimalarial, zuclopenthixol is an antipsychotic, and nebivolol is a blood pressure medication.

"Particularly in the context of this pandemic, there is a stringent need for high-quality studies that can provide critical knowledge concerning the COVID-19 disease and reliable treatment proposals," the paper states. "With these caveats in mind, we conceived a computational workflow that included independent in vitro validation, followed by assessing emerging candidates in the context of available clinical pharmacology data with the aim of proposing suitable candidates for clinical studies for early stage (incubation and symptomatic phases) patients infected by SARS-CoV-2."

"Given the need for improved efficacy and safety, we propose zuclopenthixol, nebivolol, and amodiaquine as potential candidates for clinical trials against the early phase of the SARS-CoV-2 infection," the researchers wrote.

Comparing the drugs to hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malarial drug most-frequently studied in clinical trials for use as a COVID-19 therapeutic, the researchers examined 4,000 approved drugs and found these three to act similarly to the hydroxychloroquine, and in some cases, more safely. The research indicates they may also improve efficacy when combined in lower doses with remdesivir, an anti-viral given an emergency use authorization by the United States Food and Drug Administration as a therapeutic for COVID-19.

"Think of it as a whack-a-mole game," said Tudor Oprea, MD, PhD, professor of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, chief of the UNM Division of Translational Informatics, and corresponding author on the paper. "Instead of having one hammer, you have two hammers, which is more effective. We're trying to give the scientific community two hammers, instead of one."

Dr. Jonsson added, "This is a very exciting discovery and we are following up on the potential use of zuclopenthixol, nebivolol, and amodiaquine in additional research studies."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amodiaquine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuclopenthixol

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebivolol

Researchers identify three drugs as possible therapeutics for COVID-19