Release Subtitle: Scientists develop a simple and quick
method involving stem cells to test chemicals for their carcinogenicity,
which gives results in just seven days
Release Summary Text:
Testing chemical compounds for their ability to cause cancer is one way
in which scientists can identify hazardous chemicals and thereby protect
public health. But, standard testing methods are usually complex and
time-consuming. In a new paper published in Scientific Reports,
scientists have described a novel testing method based on stem cells
that may allow scientists to quickly assess large numbers of compounds
for their carcinogenicity.
Full text of release:
Today, our lifestyle brings us in contact with multiple chemicals daily:
in packaged food, cosmetics, construction materials, aerosols, and so
on; a number of these chemicals have been named “carcinogens.” A
chemical’s carcinogenicity is its ability to cause cancer in humans or
other living things. Because cancer is a major cause of illness,
disability, and death worldwide, scientists have developed several
different ways to test chemicals for carcinogenicity in the laboratory.
However, these methods are complex and take a long time to yield
results, which makes it difficult for scientists to test large numbers
of chemicals.
Now, in a paper recently published in Scientific Reports, an
international research team led by Professor Masaharu Seno of Okayama
University, Japan, reports a new method that can achieve this quickly.
“It takes only one week for our method to yield results,” notes Prof
Seno, and this represents a considerable improvement over existing
methods.
The method involves stem cells—precursor cells that mature into various
different cells with specialized functions, such as blood cells or
neurons. Previously, Prof Seno’s research team had used a certain kind
of stem cell from mice, called mouse induced pluripotent stem cells, to
establish a model in which healthy stem cells converted to “cancerous”
stem cells, also called cancer stem cells (or CSCs), in four weeks when
kept in a conditioned culture medium of mouse lung cancer cells. In this
study, the researchers reasoned that adding a carcinogenic chemical to
the conditioned medium should boost this conversion.
Based on this idea, the researchers conducted a series of week-long
experiments to test 110 chemicals. At the end of it, they found that
three chemicals—namely, PDO325901, CHIR99021, and Dasatinib—had resulted
in the formation of CSCs. What’s interesting is, all three are actually
known to suppress the intracellular signaling that leads to the growth
and survival of cancer cells.
When they injected live mice with stem cells that had been exposed to
any of those three chemicals, malignant tumors grew in the mice within
six weeks. The CSCs obtained by exposing mouse stem cells to the three
chemicals also began making more copies of proteins often associated
with the growth of cancer cells.
Upon additional analyses, the scientists were able to identify the
specific cellular pathways that these chemicals all trigger to cause the
conversion.
These findings prove the efficacy and potential of this rapid testing
method. Prof Seno speaks of the many applications the method can have:
“Because pluripotent stem cells can develop into all cells in an adult
human body, a wide range of cancer stem cells can be obtained with our
method, enabling the efficient risk assessment of many chemicals for a
variety of cancers. This will lead to more precise cancer prevention
strategies as well as treatments.” He also asserts that this screening
method will be “a good resource for studying the mechanisms of cancer
development.”
Given how many people are afflicted worldwide by cancer every year,
methods such as the ones developed in this study and its precursor can
make important contributions to the improvement of people’s lives.
Release URL: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-08/ou-ccb080520.php
Reference:
Title of original paper: Signaling Inhibitors Accelerate the Conversion
of mouse iPS Cells into Cancer Stem Cells in the Tumor Microenvironment
Journal: Scientific Reports
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-66471-2
Contact Person: SENO Masaharu
mseno(a)okayama-u.ac.jp
For inquiries, please contact us by replacing (a) with the @ mark.
Website: http://www.cyber.biotech.okayama-u.ac.jp/senolab/kenkyu-e.html
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