These animals have "conquered" cancer, and humans are learning from them

In the fight against disease, scientists will pay attention to not only humans, but also other animals.

For example, genes from elephants may help humans conquer cancer.

In recent years, naked mole, elephant and bowhead whales have attracted the attention of cancer researchers.

At first glance, these three animals have almost nothing in common: the naked mole, a rodent, lives underground.

Elephants walk on land;

The humpback whales travel in the sea, but there are some similarities.

First, they live relatively long: naked mole rats can live past 30 years and live longer than most species of the same size.

Some elephants live for up to seventy years.

Humpback whales have a life expectancy of two centuries.

Secondly, these three species are basically immune to cancer.

People often forget that animals, like us, struggle with cancer.

In recent years, researchers have realized that studying different species of cancer may be rewarding, and this opens up a new field called comparative oncology.

A 2015 review, for example, suggested that dogs are 10 times more likely to develop cancer than humans, while naked mole rats, elephants and bow-headed whales "seem to be completely immune to cancer."

The researchers believe this "cancer risk atlas" provides a valuable new insight into the genetic basis of cancer.

The animals understand the disease

The data that scientists have obtained from their pets have shown that this method works.

The researchers wrote: "an unintentional breeding pattern for dogs has a high risk of developing a specific disease of the species."

At the same time, the genetic variation of many purebred dogs has been limited, making it difficult for researchers to identify cancer-related genes.

And dogs live shorter lives, and their physiology is similar to that of humans.

Therefore, to evaluate the effectiveness of new research methods for cancer prevention and treatment, dogs are more efficient in their experimental subjects.

Duke university specializing in cancer biology professor Michael Kastan tells The ASCO Post: "pet (mainly dogs) due to aging develop tumors. In recent years, academic circles again, because this type of cancer have much in common with human cancer."

A 2013 study concluded that canine breast cancer is similar to human breast cancer, and that it is possible to screen certain cancers and identify their biomarkers with dogs.

"Zoobiquity," published in 2013, may inspire researchers who are interested in exploring the cancer risk spectrum.

Its author, Barbara natterson-horowitz, is a cardiologist at the university of California, Los Angeles.

She believes that researchers should start by evolving the lens of evolution to look for ways to treat diseases.

Natterson-horowitz believes that the lack of cooperation between veterinarians and doctors is unwise because animals and humans are subject to many of the same diseases, particularly cancer.

Natterson - Horowitz also writes: "jaguar has the risk of breast cancer, and may carry BRCA1 gene. Including many ashkenazi descent jews, BRCA1 gene carriers belong to people at high risk of breast cancer."

She says other types of cancer can also be found in animals, such as the fact that captive rhinos get leukemia, and that the animals that suffer from skin cancer are more diverse.

So if doctors, vets and wildlife biologists work together, it might help us to understand these diseases, "and maybe even find ways to treat them."

For decades, rapamycin has been used to prevent organ transplant rejection, university of guelph, Ontario veterinary college, ongoing clinical trials to test the drug can be used to treat dogs, to prevent the spread of osteosarcoma this extremely dangerous bone cancer.

The researchers hope that these therapies will eventually help patients suffering from osteosarcoma.

Elephants have no secrets to cancer

It's also useful to study why certain species don't get cancer.

Evolutionary biologist Vincent Lynch believes that understanding the Peto's Paradox, proposed by epidemiologist Richard Peto in 1977, is the key to solving the problem.

Because cancer is caused by deleterious genetic mutations, the more cells there are, the higher the chance of mutation.

The corollary is that large, long-lived, multicellular animals, such as elephants, have a higher risk of cancer than mice with shorter life spans, but the opposite is true.

Elephant, for example, the number of cells is more than one hundred times of mankind, the incidence of cancer is only 5%, compared with human cancer incidence is as high as 20% ~ 25% (not including rising by reason of smoking and cancer risk).

To unravel this paradox, Lynch and colleagues began comparing the genomes of small animals, such as the elephant, that are not susceptible to cancer, such as large animals and hoof rabbits (a guinea pig).

The rabbit appears to have nothing to do with elephants, but it is the closest living species to an elephant.

In 2016, published in eLife study, Lynch and his colleagues found that although the elephant big, but the extra evolved 19 TP53 gene called "suppressor master", this may be partly elephants can break peja's paradox.

The researchers say this is crucial to preventing cancer because TP53 can kill specific cells and respond to multiple stimuli such as DNA damage.

There is only one TP53 gene (there is only one human) for the rabbit, which is much smaller than the elephant.

Lynch speculates that these extra TP53 genes may shorten the time that cells can repair various DNA damage, allowing cells to regenerate before programmed death, thereby reducing the likelihood of genetic mutations.

"You couldn't understand jump out the framework of evolutionary biology," Lynch said, "we are advancing in the medical application of evolutionary thinking. Comparative oncology is a branch discipline, in this area, we must first understand the evolution of species, to understand physiological processes such as cancer."

Vera Gorbunova, a biologist at the university of rochester, who studies naked mole rats and blind mole rats, agrees.

In a study published in Nature in 2013, Gorbunova and his co-authors found that the hyaluronic acid, secreted by a naked mole cell, may explain why the species is immune to cancer.

Naked moles have more hyaluronic acid molecules than humans and other mammals, and much more.

This is apparently because the "slimy" substance allows their skin to relax and be elastic, allowing naked mole rats to dig holes in the ground for the rest of their lives.

Researchers suspect that high concentrations of hyaluronic acid may have been inhibiting rapid cell division, preventing cell excess, inhibiting the growth and spread of cancer cells, and thus acting as an anticancer agent.

"We may be able to develop strategies that will allow cancer susceptible people to release more hyaluronic acid," Gorbunova said.

The application of the anti-cancer mechanism to the human body seems to have dawned.

Researchers have begun injecting more TP53 from elephants into human cells.

Lisa Abegglen, a geneticist at the university of Utah and a proponent of evolutionary medicine, has in recent studies, she and her colleagues have successfully synthesized a number of TP53 genes and injected them into human cells.

Human cells have embraced the synthetic TP53 gene, and since researchers have triggered DNA damage, there has been an increase in human cell death, which can prevent the spread of cancer cells.

The researchers acknowledge that converting these findings into treatments for all types of cancer will take years, not to mention cancer prevention.

But researchers are optimistic that it may be possible to find ways to combat cancer from cancer.

Abegglen said: "so far, we've learned one thing, that's all species have evolved a unique royal cancer mechanism. The elephant can genes in human cells to work normally, an incredible, but this is the case, is really cool!"

prev:What are the benefits of sweating(2017-07-25)

next:How do I draw basic shapes with R(2017-07-26)