Cancer is one of the deadliest diseases on the planet. It affects millions of people across the world, takes more than 10 million lives every year, and still doesn’t have a cure. Most cancer-management therapies involve treatments such as chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy and immunotherapy that are meant to remove the cancer cells as much as possible.
However, these treatments aren’t always effective, and many patients have gotten cancer again years after the initial cancer was treated. Always on the lookout for novel therapies that can manage and potentially cure cancer, researchers are now exploring how they can manage and treat cancer by restricting malignant cells in place.
In a new study, researchers from the University of Washington and the University of California, Davis discuss treatments that work by restricting cancer cells in place and preventing them from spreading to other parts of the body. The study, whose findings were reported in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,” also highlighted how a monoclonal antibody could help to prevent the spread of cancer by strengthening the bond between cells by making them stick together.
Professor Barry Gumbiner from the Seattle Children’s Research Institute and University of Washington states that the monoclonal antibody 19A11 works by binding a protein called E-cadherin. This protein helps cells, particularly those in the epithelial layers that line the gut, skin and other organs, to stick together. Furthermore, it plays a major role in helping to maintain vessel structure in the body and reducing the risk of cancer metastasis.
Cadherins and similar adhesion molecules are also important in managing chronic inflammation in conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease and Crohn’s disease. Previous research has found that treatments that include 19A11 are capable of halting the spread of lung cancer cells in mice.
In this recent study, researchers look into how 19A11 binds with E-cadherin. They found that the antibody has two binding modes, binding to one E-cadherin molecule close to the site where it binds to another E-cadherin molecule. Additionally, one of the antibody’s binding modes increases E-cadherin’s adhesive strength, significantly increasing the stickiness between cells.
This increased stickiness, or cohesion, is due to the formation of a kind of noncovalent bond between molecules called a salt bridge. Researchers involved in the study believe that getting a clearer idea of how the 19A11 antibody increases the adhesiveness between cells could allow them to develop more effective therapies for cancer treatment.
The study also involved researchers from the Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Diseases, UCB Pharma, the Seattle’s Children’s Research Institute and the Seattle Genomics Center for Infectious Diseases.
If this approach of preventing cancer from metastasizing becomes a viable treatment option, other entities developing better cancer treatments, such as CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP), would increase the alternatives clinicians have to manage the illnesses their patients present with in a better way.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CNSP
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