Date: June 16, 2016
Source: Hokkaido University
Naked mole-rats (NMR) are the
longest-living rodent species and exhibit extraordinary resistance to cancer. A
Japanese research team found the induced pluripotent stem cells derived from
NMR to be non-tumorigenic, shedding new light on their unique anti-cancer
mechanism at the molecular level.
Scientists are getting closer to
understanding the anti-cancer mechanism of the naked mole rat by making induced
pluripotent stem cells.
Naked mole-rats (NMR) are the
longest-living rodent species and exhibit "extraordinary" resistance
to cancer. Mole-rats live up to 30 years, 10 times longer than mice, and
captured colonies almost never show any type of cancer. Understanding these
animals' anti-cancer mechanisms may help advance human treatment in the future,
according to a collaborative research team from Hokkaido University and Keio
University in Japan.
The research team took skin
fibroblast tissue from adult mole-rats and reprogrammed the cells to revert to
pluripotent stem cells. These are called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)
and, like embryonic stem cells, are capable of becoming any type of tissue in
the body. However, these stem cells can also form tumours called teratomas when
transplanted back into the animals.
When the mole-rats' iPSCs were
inserted into the testes of mice with extremely weak immune systems, the team
discovered that they didn't form tumours in contrast to human iPSCs and mouse
iPSCs. Upon further investigation, they found that a tumour-suppressor gene
called alternative reading frame (ARF), which is normally suppressed in mouse
and human iPSCs, remained active in the mole-rat iPSCs.
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