A protein borrowed from tardigrads can give us radiation armor

Strangely charming and sustainable tardograd or water bear can simply hold the key to turning cancer treatment much more (water) tolerable. This is because a team of researchers simply found evidence that a protein produced by these microscopic creatures can protect our healthy cells from the devastation of radiation therapy.

MIT scientists, Iowa University and elsewhere conducted the new survey, published this Wednesday at Biomedical techniqueS In mice experiments, the research team noted that the protein reduces radiation damage in normal cells, still allowing radiation therapy to target cancer cells. The findings could someday lead to invaluable treatment for many cancer patients, the researchers say.

Tardigrads are extreme, notorious with their remarkable ability to survive in some of Earth’s most uncomfortable conditions (and space). One of the conditions that durable creatures have evolved to withstand is the extreme doses of radiation – thousands of times more than a person who can handle it – and one of the tricks they use to confront that radiation is the production of something called something called something called Suppressor proteinor DSUP. This protein is thought to suggest the name, suppresses the radiation -induced damage to DNA by binding to the DNA threads and does not allow them to decay as usual.

The research team decided to check that it was possible to safely transfer the bodily armor to the tardig against the radiation of other animals, ranging from mice.

Using MRNA technology, the team made it possible for certain cells in their mice to temporarily produce DSUP (only a few hours), after which they expose the radiation cells. Researchers specifically chose mouth lining cells and rectum, as radiation is usually used to treat cancers in these areas.

Just like with tardigrads, the mice of the team seemed to have added protection against radiation disabilities, the researchers found. In experiments with mice that have oral cancer, they also demonstrate that MRNA therapy does not disturb the radiation’s ability to kill nearby tumor cells.

“The strategy can be widely applicable to the protection of healthy DNA tissue from the damage agents,” the researchers wrote in their document.

Of course, this study is still far from the human cancer applicable to patients and will take more study and adjustment to make this technology safe and practical for medical use.

Scientists plan to create a modernized version of a protein, which is less likely to cause an unwanted response from our immune system, for example. Researchers elsewhere also have Recently discovered Tardigrads, which are even more resistant to radiation, suggesting that DSUP is not the only tool for radiation resistance we can take from them. But if the work of the team continues to progress, it can eventually provide widespread benefits for approximately 50 to 60% of cancer patients who undergo radiation therapy.

Protein can even be used to protect astronauts from space -related radiation or to protect patients with cancer from other sources of DNA damage, such as chemotherapy, researchers say.

“Radiation can be very useful for many tumors, but we also admit that the side effects can be restrictive,” said study co -author Giovanni Traverso, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT and Gastroenterologist in Brigham and Women’s Hospital at the Hospital for Women, Said, told MIT and Gastro. Mit newsS “There is an unsatisfied need for helping patients to mitigate the risk of damage to adjacent tissue.”

Tardigrads have long been one of the most captivating animals around because of their many inability. If we are lucky, one day we can use a little of this superpower for ourselves.