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< Research Team
DR STEVE GRIFFITHS
Biography | Research Interests | Publications
MICROVESICLES (MVs)
Cancer cells need to modify their environment to survive. Their modifications include the deactivation of immune cells, the redirection of blood vessels and the preparation of other sites in the body for colonization.
In order to achieve these goals, all cancers boost a system of normal cell communication that involves the pinching off little bubbles called microvesicles (MVs).
MVs are packed with active components of the cancer (protein) and the blueprints (RNA)… it sends these out rather like instructions to convince other cells to behave nicely toward them.
But if the MVs very important to the maintenance and spread of cancer, they are also the Achilles heel. Because the MVs contain “everything that is wrong” with the cancer, we can get a snapshot of its weaknesses and detect it earlier. By regularly sampling MVs from patient blood, my group hope it may be easier to identify different types of cancer earlier and to choose effective treatments with greater accuracy.
HEAT SHOCK PROTEINS (HSPs)
Heat Shock Proteins are the “search and rescue” molecules found in the cells of all living things, from bacteria to man. HSPs protect other proteins from unraveling when times get tough for the cell - during chemical imbalance or temperature fluctuation for example.
HSPs perform this essential job by being able to perform a very simple function. Rather like microscopic piranhas, they bite down onto bulges and prevent any further damage from occurring ( the bulges are particularly “sticky” and damaged proteins stick together). When conditions return to normal, the HSPs go through “bite and release” motions that allows the protein to shuffle back into a normal shape and resume work.
Because their function involves being bound to a certain portion of ALL cell proteins (at any particular point in time), our immune system has evolved to capture HSPs and anything else they might be bound to.
HSPs are produced in excess by cancer cells, particularly on the cell surface and on the microvesicles mentioned above. HSP-bound cancer proteins will provide doctors with advice on treatment options and potential targets for vaccine therapy.
However, at the moment it is not possible to recreate the conditions necessary to naturally bind HSPs to entire disease proteins in suitable amounts to investigate vaccine potential. My group has discovered a very simple “natural” method for combining HSPs with proteins important to cancer cells but not normal ones. We hope to use this universal method to shut down different types of cancer and prevent it from coming back.
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