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medpundit |
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Monday, February 14, 2005The mice they studied had a form of skin cancer, called melanoma, that had spread to the lungs. In the laboratory, the scientists took HIV and removed the parts of the virus that causes disease. The virus travelled through the bloodstream and homed straight to the cancer cells They then stripped off the virus' outer coat and redressed it with the outer suit of another virus. By doing this, the researchers had changed the target of the virus. HIV normally infects immune cells called T cells. The new outer coat instead directed HIV to hunt down molecules present on cancer cells, called P-glycoproteins. The scientists also added a substance to the virus that would make it visibly glow when looked at with a special camera so they could track where it travelled once injected into the mice. Researcher Dr Irvin Chen, from UCLA's Aids Institute, said: 'The virus travelled through the bloodstream and homed straight to the cancer cells in the lungs, where the melanoma had migrated. 'Gene therapy has been hampered by the lack of a good carrier. 'Our approach proves that it is possible to develop an effective carrier and reprogram it to target specific cells in the body.' Wow. posted by Sydney on 2/14/2005 07:57:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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