Scientists yet have found a pharmacological approach to stimulate the human immune system that could efficiently get rid of tumor cancer cells. At the IBM Research Center, scientists have a discovery that alerts the human body's immune cells to spring into action. They emit signals for immune cells to rush to the scene of malignant tumor cells to exterminate and clear the vicinity of unwanted cancer cells.
The discovery involves the combination of nanographene sheets with a drug molecule and sending them directly to the tumor cells location. The molecular combination has a further effect that led to the latest breakthrough these same IBM scientists published in Nature Nanotechnology. The secondary effect of this polymer coated graphene is the release of cytokine proteins. These released proteins act as the "flare in the sky" signal of the human Immune System alerting the body's immune cells.
The immune helper T cells immediately relay the message to the Killer T cells, giving them the coordinates. Researchers found out that the terminator cells rush to the location of the polymer coated graphene molecular combination, where the malignant cells are, and kill each and every one of the cancer cells. This human immune system stimulation springs the immune cells into action, which is not an easy task for the body.
According to Dr. Ruhong Zhuo, Manager of the Soft Matter Science at the IBM research says their discovery will usher a new phase in precision medicine bringing the human immune system battle exactly at the source of the cancer cell location. Combining the body's natural immune cells response with pharmaceutical induced molecules will now alter the landscape in the fight against the dreaded disease, reports Physics.Org.
In Rutger University, a similar approach by its scientists and researchers was also conducted. The team is led by Professor Dipak Sarkar of the Department of Animal Sciences at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. The approach is also a combination of opposite opioid receptors that are similar in function but structurally opposite in nature.
Opioids communicate with the immune system that whenever there is a need for endorphins reinforcements, due to alcohol dosage, drug abuse, anxiety, depression, and other psychological stresses, opioids receptors summon them to where the malignant cancer cells are and exterminate them efficiently, reports Science Daily.
Sarkar and his group's pharmacological discovery hopes to bring the application to the treatment of cancer patients. Both these discoveries will bring applications closer to future advancements to totally clear the human body of cancer.
