This drug-free, non-invasive approach could open the doors
for new developments in cancer therapy and cancer biomarker
discovery
SINGAPORE, May 21, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- A team of researchers led by Associate Professor
Alfredo Franco-Obregón from the NUS Institute for Health Innovation
& Technology (iHealthtech) has unveiled a novel approach to
stimulate muscle, by way of using brief and mild pulsed
electromagnetic field exposure, to produce and release proteins
possessing anticancer properties. These soluble chemical molecules
can then be carried in the blood stream to all regions of the body
for system-wide protection against cancer.
Exercise is known to have protective effects against cancer,
including reducing the risk of developing breast, prostate, and
colon cancers, as well as improving the survival rate of patients
with cancer. However, given the debilitating effects of cancer
progression and treatment-related side effects, patients with
cancer may not be able to exercise and benefit from muscle's
anticancer effects.
"The BICEPS lab's method of stimulating muscle cells uses a form
of magnetic therapy that exhibits key commonalities with exercise.
This latest study demonstrated that our non-invasive method of
muscle stimulation mobilises a similar anticancer defence as
exercise, bringing us a step closer towards the development of
drug-free therapeutics and the discovery of cancer-related
biomarkers to help patients with cancer benefit from
exercise-stimulated anticancer agents while not being able to
exercise," said Assoc Prof Franco-Obregón.
The NUS (National
University of Singapore) team published the
details of this new drug-free and non-invasive approach in
Cells on 5 March 2024.
Anticancer properties of magnetically-stimulated muscle
cells
In a previous study, Assoc Prof Franco-Obregón and his team
demonstrated that briefly exposing isolated muscle cells to 10
minutes of low-energy magnetic fields was capable of boosting
muscle development by stimulating their release of regenerative and
rejuvenating proteins into their surroundings. In the body, these
same muscle factors are also known to be protective against common
diseases such as diabetes and cancer.
In the new study, the team explicitly investigated whether the
same magnetic stimulation protocol could encourage the production
and release of anticancer agents from the intact muscles in
preclinical models and to identify and validate anticancer
factors.
The NUS team first tested their hypothesis at the cellular level
and found that muscle cells that underwent magnetic therapy could
inhibit breast cancer cell growth, invasion and migration, which
are hallmarks of cancer progression. In addition,
magnetically-stimulated muscle cells were found to be able to
shrink micro-tumours as well as reduce their blood vessel
formation.
Next, the researchers conducted preclinical studies to validate
their tissue culture findings. They demonstrated that 10-minute
exposure to magnetic therapy once a week for eight weeks was
sufficient to evoke similar anticancer properties - such as
preventing the growth, invasion and migration of breast cancer
cells - as that produced by exercising twice a week for 20 minutes
per session for eight weeks.
The researchers further demonstrated that a previously suspected
tumour suppressor, HTRA1, was secreted from muscle cells exposed to
10 minutes of magnetic fields per week, similarly as exercising for
20 minutes twice a week. Importantly, selectively removing HTRA1
secreted by the muscle cells eliminated its anticancer potency,
whereas directly applying synthetic HTRA1 to cancer cells recreated
the anticancer effect of magnetic field exposure and exercise.
These results demonstrate that HTRA1 is necessary and sufficient to
explain the anticancer effect of muscle.
Interestingly, HTRA1 is necessary for muscle development and for
the build-up of muscle's anticancer protein arsenal, which
contributes to our muscle being our greatest natural defence
against cancer. In this respect, the researchers showed that early
exposure of isolated muscle cells (in tissue culture) to HTRA1
stimulated their development and increased their anticancer
potency.
In other words, HTRA1 could adapt muscle cells outside the body
to become better anticancer factor secretors even when not
stimulated by the magnetic fields, essentially recapitulating
exercise adaptations in the laboratory, which are normally seen in
the body.
"HTRA1 released during exercise may cause muscles to adapt to be
capable of secreting HTRA1 even at rest. This helps to explain why
exercise makes us more resistant to cancer. To extend the analogy
even further, if muscle is our anticancer pharmacy, magnetic field
therapy may be an inexpensive, yet effective, prescription," said
Assoc Prof Franco-Obregón.
Next steps
Following up on the promising results generated from this
preclinical study, the NUS team is initiating clinical trials to
assess the anticancer potential of muscle-targeted magnetic therapy
in humans and to corroborate the anticancer effects of HTRA1 in
humans with breast and other cancers.
The team also looks forward to conducting further studies to
identify other anticancer biomarkers produced and released by
muscle cells, which could serve as potential targets for the
development of drugs and therapeutics to treat cancer. As muscle is
a foundation of rejuvenating and disease fighting factors, this
approach should prove quite fruitful.
Read more at:
https://news.nus.edu.sg/muscle-cells-natural-defences-against-cancer-using-magnetic-pulses
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SOURCE National University of
Singapore