Key points from article :
Scientists made two new adenoviruses that specifically target cancer cells.
Specifically replicates inside, kills cancer cells by employing RNA-stabilizing elements.
They used ‘adenylate-uridylate-rich elements’ (AREs), which enhances human mRNAs.
ARE-mRNAs are stabilized in cancer cells, supporting their continuous proliferation.
Team inserted AREs from two human genes into an adenovirus replicating gene.
This resulted in the new adenoviruses: AdARET and AdAREF.
The idea behind the insertion is that the AREs will stabilize the killer adenoviruses.
Allowing them to replicate only inside cancer cells but not in normal healthy ones.
Human cancer cells were then injected under the skin of nude mice, which developed to tumors.
Injection of AdARET and AdAREF into tumors resulted in a significant reduction in its size.
The two were found to be effective against cancer cells without a mutated RAS gene.
Research by Hokkaido University scientists, published in Cancers.
