Telomere shortening acts as a biological mechanism for limiting cellular life span. Most cancer cells bypass this failsafe by synthesizing new telomeres using the enzyme telomerase.
Several therapies targeting this well-described telomerase-based pathway are in the advanced stages of clinical development, but as with any cancer therapy there is the potential for development of resistance against telomerase-based strategies to defeat cancer. Studies using mice and human cancer cell lines have demonstrated that cancer can overcome the loss of telomerase by using a telomerase-independent mechanism called Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT).
Google’s artificial intelligence research lab DeepMind is exploring whether its technology could be used to identify early signs of eye diseases that ophthalmologists might not spot.
DeepMind, which was acquired by Google in 2014, has struck an agreement with Moorfields Eye Hospital in London that gives it access to about a million anonymous retinal scans, which it will feed into its artificial intelligence software.
The algorithm will target two of the most common eye diseases: age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, which affect more than 100 million people around the world.
Researchers have created a new genome editing technique called Target-AID, which induces point mutations instead of cutting DNA
Gene editing technology has fantastic potential, but there are remaining issues and questions over safety and specificity. The major contender is currently CRISPR-Cas9, but this induces a double stranded break in DNA which is a slightly riskier approach — particularly if it cuts in other locations too that you don’t want it to. Research teams across the world are both optimising and customising the CRISPR system; creating more accurate versions or versions that regulate gene expression as opposed to editing it. One such team has now built an add-on to CRISPR, Target-AID.
Dr Haroldo Silva from SENS talks about ALT cancer in this short film.
As normal cells divide, the ends of their chromosomes (telomeres) progressively shorten until eventually the cells reach senescence or undergo apoptosis. Cancers, which disproportionally kill more individuals in the 65 years or above age group, often overcome this built-in replication limit by expressing the enzyme telomerase.
However, about 10–15% cancers do not use telomerase and at least a major subset of these exhibit hallmarks of Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT) activity, including long and heterogeneous telomere lengths, presence of ALT-associated PML nuclear bodies (APBs), and generation of high-levels of C-rich circular telomeric DNA repeats (C-circles). Although there are many telomerase-based anti-cancer therapies in clinical development at the moment, research on ALT has not produced any promising therapies so far. This lag is due in part to a lack of assays that are reliable and amenable to high-content/high-throughput (HTS) screens.
The OncoSENS team has made significant progress toward making some of these key ALT assays compatible with the HTS format, which should not only speed up the development of ALT-based anti-cancer therapies but also broaden the amount of research performed on ALT. Our team has already begun applying the assays above to test the involvement of several genes in the ALT pathway and the progress on that front will also be showcased. Undoubtedly, successfully shutting down both ALT- and telomerase-based pathways of telomere maintenance in cancers will move the field forward towards realizing the goal of a complete eradication of one of the main age-related fatal diseases burdening society.
Time people rethought outdated ideas about biology and accepted that development and aging are not one way processess and they are amenable to intervention.
Scientists have announced they can now reverse the menopause in what is thought to be a major scientific breakthrough.
Trials claim to have ‘rejuvenated’ women’s ovaries using a blood treatment normally used to help wounds heal faster and have reversed menstrual cessation in multiple women, including 40-year-old woman who underwent the menopause five years ago.
The research, undertaken by scientists in Athens, has been presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology’s annual meeting in Finland, The New Scientist reports.
Is ageing a disease? Can it be cured? Can death be pushed back? Will you live to 1000 years? Aubrey de Grey, Chief Science Officer, SENS Research Foundation divulges the truth behind longevity and the ensuing risks and discover how you should transform your life insurance models. He spoke to Markus Salchegger, Managing Director at Accenture Risk & Finance at RiskMinds Insurance 2016, Amsterdam.
