Study describes miR-124 can prevent and treat liver cancer
May 17, 2017
HFN4?± is an essential factor in formation of liver cells and their proper function. When HNF4?± is suppressed, said Iliopoulos, it creates a temporary state of inflammation in the cell - a forerunner of cancer. "After only a few days, this transient inflammatory response is converted into a chronic inflammatory response by this feedback circuit that is continuously amplified," he said.
Because HNF4?± and miR-124 interact with each other, the scientists hypothesized that boosting activity of miR-124 might restore normal activity in HNF4?±, halting the runaway inflammatory cycle and causing tumors to stop growing.
To test this notion they administered systemically miR-124 once a week for four weeks to mice that had developed liver cancer by exposure to DEN. "We found that miR-124 suppressed more than 80 per cent of tumor growth and size" by causing the cancer cells to self-destruct, the scientists wrote. They observed no toxic effects in other essential organs, such as the kidneys, spleen, heart and lungs.
Further, they showed that giving miR-124 to mice exposed to DEN actually prevented the development of liver tumors.
"Our hope is that miR-124 potentially could be used as a preventive in patients at high risk of liver cancer because they have chronic hepatitis C or as a therapeutic agent in patients with liver cancer" said Iliopoulos.
Source: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute