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GASTROENTEROLOGY & ENDOSCOPY NEWS • JUNE 2015
Novel Colon Cancer Model Implicates Four Genes nvestigators in the Netherlands have developed a novel cell culture model of colon cancer progression that they say mimics the disease more closely than any other model to date. The study, published in Nature (2015 Apr 29. [Epub ahead of print]), details how investigators from Hubrecht Institute and the University Medical Center Utrecht used a genome editing system to make genetic alterations to an organoid model of the small intestine and colon. An organoid is a three-dimensional cell culture model that functionally recreates an organ. Unlike two-dimensional models derived from cancerous lesions, an organoid can be derived from healthy tissue. Those features allow researchers to isolate the effects of individual mutations on cancer development, which often involves hundreds
Heard Here First See page 48
to thousands of mutations, said Jarno Drost, PhD, a postdoctoral student at Hubrecht Institute and first author of the study. Dr. Drost and his colleagues introduced specific mutations in four of the most commonly altered genes in colon cancer—KRAS, APC, TP53 and SMAD4—and performed an in-depth analysis of their contribution to the development of cancer. The findings indicate that mutating all four of these genes at one time is sufficient to convert a normal intestinal cell into an invasive tumor cell, Dr. Drost said. The new model will enable researchers to closely study the processes involved in colon cancer development, Dr. Drost said, and identify mutations that could be targets for novel treatments. —Ajai Raj
People have long focused their attention on other complex and expensive therapies but often ignore the importance of providing basic nutrition [in the ICU].
Vol. 66, No. 6
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June 2015
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