Down syndrome reveals key to fighting cancer
People with Down syndrome rarely get most kinds of cancer, and U.S. researchers have nailed down one reason why — they have extra copies of a gene that helps keep tumours from feeding themselves.
The findings could lead to new treatments for cancer, the researchers reported in the journal Nature on Wednesday, and further study of Down patients might reveal more ways to fight tumours.
The researchers at Harvard University and elsewhere made use of a new kind of embryonic-like stem cell called an induced pluripotent stem cell or iPS cell. These cells, made from ordinary skin, can be transformed to act like powerful stem cells, the body’s master cells.
Using iPS cells from a volunteer with Down syndrome and mice genetically engineered to have a version of the condition, the researchers pinpointed one gene that protects against tumours.
“It is, perhaps, inspiring that the Down syndrome population provides us with new insight into mechanisms that regulate cancer growth,” they wrote. Down syndrome is the most common genetic cause of mental retardation, occurring in one out of 700 live births. The Down syndrome theory had long been explored by Harvard’s Dr. Judah Folkman, who died last year. Folkman, whose name is on the study, developed theories about how tumour cells grow blood vessels to nourish themselves in a process called angiogenesis.
Folkman also noticed how rare cancer is among Down patients, except for leukemia, and he wondered whether the genes explain why. A study of nearly 18,000 Down’s patients showed they had 10 per cent the expected rate of cancer.
People with Down syndrome have a third copy of chromosome 21, where most people have two copies.
The extra copy gives them extra versions of 231 different genes.
“One such gene is Down syndrome candidate region-1 (DSCR1, also known as RCAN1),” Harvard’s Sandra Ryeom and colleagues wrote.
This gene codes for a protein that suppresses vascular endothelial growth factor or VEGF — one of the compounds necessary for angiogenesis.
The findings could lead to new treatments for cancer, the researchers reported in the journal Nature on Wednesday, and further study of Down patients might reveal more ways to fight tumours.
The researchers at Harvard University and elsewhere made use of a new kind of embryonic-like stem cell called an induced pluripotent stem cell or iPS cell. These cells, made from ordinary skin, can be transformed to act like powerful stem cells, the body’s master cells.
Using iPS cells from a volunteer with Down syndrome and mice genetically engineered to have a version of the condition, the researchers pinpointed one gene that protects against tumours.
“It is, perhaps, inspiring that the Down syndrome population provides us with new insight into mechanisms that regulate cancer growth,” they wrote. Down syndrome is the most common genetic cause of mental retardation, occurring in one out of 700 live births. The Down syndrome theory had long been explored by Harvard’s Dr. Judah Folkman, who died last year. Folkman, whose name is on the study, developed theories about how tumour cells grow blood vessels to nourish themselves in a process called angiogenesis.
Folkman also noticed how rare cancer is among Down patients, except for leukemia, and he wondered whether the genes explain why. A study of nearly 18,000 Down’s patients showed they had 10 per cent the expected rate of cancer.
People with Down syndrome have a third copy of chromosome 21, where most people have two copies.
The extra copy gives them extra versions of 231 different genes.
“One such gene is Down syndrome candidate region-1 (DSCR1, also known as RCAN1),” Harvard’s Sandra Ryeom and colleagues wrote.
This gene codes for a protein that suppresses vascular endothelial growth factor or VEGF — one of the compounds necessary for angiogenesis.
posted by gwg at 9:30 PM
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