2023-06-02 04:27:26
Staphylococcus epidermidis (left) and Micrococcus luteus (right) in a Petri dish. They are bacteria commonly found on human skin. Among them, Staphylococcus epidermidis has been found to be genetically modified to treat cancer in the latest research. (Shutterstock)
Stanford Medicine researchers have made a valuable discovery that could lead to new cancer treatments method. Scientists test changing the genomes of skin microbes and bacteria to fight cancer. The altered microbes were swabbed into cancer-bearing mice, and their tumors began to dissipate.
The study involved a bacterium called Staphylococcus epidermidis, which was extracted from the fur of mice and engineered to produce a protein that stimulates the immune system against specific tumors. Trials have been wildly successful, with the modified bacteria dabbed on fur killing an aggressive type of metastatic skin cancer without causing inflammation.
This study was published in the April 13 issue ofscience(Science) magazine.
“It’s almost like magic,” said Michael Fischbach, Ph.D., an associate professor of bioengineering at Stanford University. “These mice had very aggressive tumors on their flanks, and we administered a mild treatment of just rubbing the bacteria on their scalps.”
Another exploration into the little-known world of microbes, the gut biome gets a lot of media attention these days, and the skin hosts millions of bacteria, fungi, and viruses for often unserved purposes. known.
In experiments, the scientists found that S. epidermidis cells trigger the production of an immune T cell called CD8. The researchers essentially manipulated S. epidermidis to produce CD8 T cells directed against a specific antigen, in this case, a specific antigen associated with skin cancer. When such T cells encounter a tumor with a matching specific antigen, they begin to multiply rapidly and shrink the tumor, or wipe it out entirely.
“Watching these tumors dissipate step by step, and these bacteria were spread in a place far away from the tumor,” Fischbach said. “It took us a long time to believe it was true.”
As with all emerging cancer treatments, there are some important caveats to this new approach. First, these experiments were performed on mice. Humans and mice are biologically similar in many ways, but many treatments that work in mice do not work in humans. The Stanford researchers also don’t know if Staphylococcus epidermidis triggers an immune response in humans, though it’s all over our skin, so they may eventually have to find a different microbe. Furthermore, this approach is intended to treat skin cancer and is only suitable for topical use; it remains to be seen whether it will be effective for cancer in the body.
That said, human trials are expected within the next few years, the Stanford team said, although more trials in mice and other animals will be needed before human trials can take place. Scientists hope the treatment could eventually target human cancer cells as well as various other infectious diseases. ◇#
Editor in charge: Ye Ziwei
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