Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have shown that using a gene editing system called CRISPR, mice can produce colon tumors that are very similar to human tumors. This progress will help scientists learn more about disease progression and test new treatments.
Many experimental tumors metastasize to the liver once they form. This is the same as the common colon cancer in humans. These metastases are the most common cause of death from colon cancer.
"This is the missing part of colon cancer research. Omer Yilmaz, assistant professor of biology at MIT, member of MIT's Koch Institute for Comprehensive Cancer, lead author: the results of the research process The study of primary colon tumor metastasis to the liver was published in "Nature Biotechnology".
This research is based on Tyler Jacks, director of the Koch Institute. Based on a recent study, he also used CRISPR to generate lung and liver tumors in mice.
"CRISPR-based technology is beginning to revolutionize many aspects of cancer research, including faster speed and more accurate mouse models of disease. This research is a good example of both." Jacks said. Biotechnology papers.
The main author of the paper is the Tufts Medical Center, a research partner of the Koch Institute. Tuomas Tammela.
Human Tumor Mimicry
Cancer biologists have used two different methods over the years. How to model cancer. One is to cultivate immortalized human cancer cells or cancer cell lines in a laboratory dish. Yilmaz "You can do a lot by studying these two-dimensional cell lines. I have learned, but there are limitations." They don't really reproduce the complex tumor environment in the body. "
Another widely used technique has mutations that predispose to cancer. However, it can take years to breed such mice, especially if there are multiple cancer-related mutations.
Recently, researchers have used their use CRISPR to generate cancer models. CRISPR was originally discovered by biologists studying the immune system of bacteria. It consists of a DNA-cutting enzyme called Cas9 and identifies targets within the genome. sequence. The short NA guide chain structure tells Cas9 where to cut. This process allows scientists to make targeted mutations, delete genes, or insert new genes in the genomes of living animals.
Cancer mutation In order to induce, the researchers packaged the Cas9 gene and NA guide chain into a virus called lentivirus, and then injected it into the target organs of adult mice.
for colon cancer and its genes, diet and aging. After studying the impact of Yilmaz, Yilmaz decided to adopt this method. This method produces colon tumors in mice. He and his laboratory members have researched a technique for growing them. Called organoids. Micro-tissue-in this case, the three-dimensional growth of the colon structure can be accurately replicated.