SC501 to target CSC

Subject: Science and Technology

Section: Biotechnology

Context: A ‘small molecule drug’ that messes with the mechanism of cancer spread has been discovered.

Content:

Stem cells from cord blood if preserved, can be used to regenerate body parts such as a damaged organ or a broken bone.
CSC (cancer stem cells) are similar — they help in generating cancer cells. Drugs find it hard to eliminate CSC, because they proliferate rapidly. That’s why many cancer patients get cured and then have a relapse.
So, two medical researchers have discovered a ‘small molecule drug’, which they call SC501, to target CSC.

Concept:

Small Molecule Drugs

‘Small molecule drugs’ are a class of drugs that can easily enter a cell (and thus helpful in targeted therapies).
The uniqueness of small molecule SC501, is, rather than attacking CSC, it guns down the wnt pathways to inhibit the growth of cancer cells.
In other words, the small molecule is a ‘wnt inhibitor’; by destroying a feature specific to CSC, namely the ‘wnt pathway’, the molecule prevents the stem cells from increasing their tribe.
In addition, the SC501 starves cancer cells of bloodby preventing angiogenesis or development of new blood vessels that supply to them. This it does by blocking a protein responsible for angiogenesis.
It is also called as “magic molecule” because it can potentially be used in the treatment of many other diseases, such as osteoporosis, diabetes and even neuro-degenerative ailments.

Wnt signaling pathway

The Wnt signaling pathway is an ancient and evolutionarily conserved pathway that regulates crucial aspects of cell fate determination, cell migration, cell polarity, neural patterning and organogenesis during embryonic development.
They pass on genetic information from one cell to another.
These molecules may be simple gases or complex proteins. Some latch on to ‘receptors’ on the cell wall; others are capable of entering cells and latching on to receptors in the cytoplasm or on the wall of the nucleus.

To know about Stem Cells and Cord Blood, refer: https://optimizeias.com/stem-cell-therapy-2/