Tel Aviv University researchers have made a groundbreaking discovery in the fight against brain cancer. A discovery that can stop the spread of glioblastoma. Glioblastoma is an aggressive type of cancer which can occur in the brain or spinal cord.
Researchers have succeeded in doing this by detecting a breakdown in the brain's immune system that can be used against deadly cancer. The research has been published in Nature Communication Journal.
Attack on glioblastoma
The key point of this revolutionary research carried out by Tel Aviv University is an Achilles heel, as mentioned. To be specific it is a protein called P-Selectina (SELP). Researchers used it to restore normal brain activity, blocking the spread of cancer. The teacher. Ronit Satchi-Fainaro of Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine led an international research team in what is a real venture.
On the sidelines of the research, confirmations to the researchers came from a subsequent comparison of healthy brain tissues with other tissues infected with glioblastoma.
The conclusions of the research and the breakthrough in treatment
"We looked at the interactions between immune cells in the brain and glioblastoma cells in tumors recently removed from patients' brains," Fainaro said. Researchers investigated which proteins are secreted when microglia immune cells (the cells of the immune system) meet with glioblastoma cells, as the cells are able to communicate with each other through proteins.
Their studies led to the SELP protein, which proved to be an effective obstacle to the increase in glioblastoma and the growth of brain masses. Fainaro believes the study may have therapeutic implications, as there is a possibility that SELP could be used to treat pain associated with sickle cell disease.
