The study, published in Nature Chemistry, is the first to identify gene silencing as an intrinsically chemo-treatable cancer-associated protein-regulated mechanism that can limit the persistence of cancer cells.
The researchers primarily focused on a gene that is regulated by the human epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a protein that regulates hair growth in skin, hair and other types of skin.
Using cells grown in petri dishes filled with CAR-T cells that are chemically inactive and EGRF deregulated to elicit low (trimethoprim-iodine) toxicity, the researchers cleaned their cell lines of CAR-T cells and also in mouse models injected with MSCs that carry CAR-T cells.
The scientists then conducted studies with gene editing models that had been depleted of CAR-T cells and compared them to non-car that were depleted and normal mice.
Nevertheless, in analyses of cell viability, we proved that eGRF can reactivate to NMDA and therefore act as CARs in cancer,” said Wangfu Huang, first author of the study and a CNBM group leader in the Chemical and Biological Signaling Departments. Continue reading →