- Mageshwaran M
The axolotl, also well known as the Mexican walking fish, is a neotenic salamander associated to the tiger salamander. Although colloquially known as a “walking fish”. axolotl an amphibian but not a fish. The species was initially found in several lakes, such as Lake Xochimilcan underlying Mexico City. Axolotls are unusual among amphibians in that they reach maturity without undergoing metamorphosis. By choice of taking to the land, adults remain aquatic and gilled. axolotl have superpower to capable of regenerating complex biological structures such as limbs, tail, heart, eye lens, and central nervous system including the brain and spinal cord.
National scenario: Dr Suleiman, a tutor in genetic science and cell biology from India, said - epigenetic modifications of Tumor suppressor genes in many cancers are shifted by epigenetic marks, which is that the underlying reason behind tumors. sought to reverse this process, activating the tumor suppressor genes, so as of stopping cancerous cell divisions.” unfortunately our nation isn't that specialize in axolotl research. But the above the statement is true.
International scenario: Carcinoma is diagnosed in about 1.4 million women throughout the planet once a year, with half 1,000,000 dying from the disease. Dr Johnson from the University of Nottingham said: axolotl oocytes - which are the eggs before ovulation - are packed with molecules that have very effective epigenetic modifying activity.
Johnson’s lab showed that extracts prepared from these oocytes have string capacity to vary epigenetic marks on the DNA of human cells. Resultant treating cancer cells with extracts made up of axolotl oocytes could reverse
the epigenetic marks on tumor suppressor genes, causing these genes to reactivate, and thereby stopping the cancerous cell growth.” which could form a strong leading-edge technology to the platform for the treatment of
cancers from the breast and other tissues.
Image credit - https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/what-is-an-axolotl/
Epigenetic reprogramming of carcinoma cells with oocyte extracts: carcinoma could be a disease characterized by both genetic and epigenetic alterations. Epigenetic silencing of tumor suppressor genes may be a premature event in breast carcinogenesis and reversion of gene silencing by epigenetic reprogramming can give clues to the liable for tumor initiation and progression. The role of epigenetic alterations in tumorigenesis has been recognized in several styles of malignancies, including carcinoma.
In the breast, abnormal epigenetic regulation of genes regulating the cell cycle, apoptosis, DNA repair, cell adhesion and signaling results in tumor formation, its progression, and drug resistance. Epigenetic alterations prevail over genetic abnormalities within the beginning stages of breast tumor progression. as an example, silencing of CDKN2A (p16INK4A), HOXA and PCDH gene clusters by DNA methylation along with over-expression of Polycomb proteins BMI-1, EZH2 and SUZ12 occurs during the induced transformation of human mammary epithelial cells. Unlike genetic alterations, epigenetic modifications of the chromatin are reversible and so are suitable targets for reversal or attenuation of malignancy.
Breast cancer cells may be directly reprogrammed by amphibian oocyte extracts. The reprogramming effect, after six hours of therapy, within the absence of DNA replication, includes DNA demethylation and removal of repressive
histone marks at the promoters of tumor suppressor genes; also, expression of the silenced genes is re-activated in response to treatment. This activity is particular to oocytes because it isn't drawn out by extracts from ovulated eggs.
Epigenetic reprogramming in oocyte extracts leads to the reduction of neoplastic cell growth under anchorage-independent conditions and a discount in tumor growth in a very mouse model (xenografts). Finally. After 60 days there was still no evidence of cancerous growth.
Conclusion: With the advance of biology, the main focus is on the identification of the genes, transcription factors and signaling pathways orchestrating the cellular events that govern cancer. additionally, the potential benefit that this field of research offers for the eventual development of novel medical treatments is of great importance. Also, new technologies like CRISPR, RNA-sequence, along with established molecular approaches such as lineage tracing, transplant assays, and in vitro modelling are extremely successful in identifying new interacting proteins in governing pathways, further allowing understanding pathway modulation and dynamics. Although much is thought about the mechanisms of the axolotl, that controlled cellular proliferation as seen in cancer are fully understood.
Future direction: There are huge challenges in designing drugs that not only target the cancer cells but also can modulate the microenvironment to at least one that doesn't favor the neoplastic cell phenotype. By understanding the
processes governing cellular proliferation, de-differentiation, cell cycle arrest, and re-differentiation using animal models just like the axolotls, further light could also be shed on the pathways linking regeneration and cancer with the
the ultimate aim of discovering novel therapeutic approaches within the treatment of cancer.
For more, visit - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31983087/
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