FINDINGSNewswise — Researchers have found that a Chinese herbal regimen called TSY-1 (Tianshengyuan-1) TSY-1 increased Telomerase activity in normal blood cells but decreased it in cancer cells. Telomerase is an enzyme responsible for the production of telomeres, which play an important role in the regulation of normal cell division. These results indicate that Telomerase-based treatments may be of significance in treatments for both blood cell deficiency and cancer.
BACKGROUNDMore than 80 percent of cancers have increased Telomerase activity, and other medical conditions are also associated with decreased or abnormal Telomerase function. The ability to increase or decrease Telomerase activity has important implications for treating cancers in which insufficient numbers of blood cells are produced. In these cases, bone marrow failure is triggered when the bone marrow is unable to keep up with the need for healthy blood cells. Bone marrow failure generally affects about seven in 100,000 people annually.
TSY-1 has been used in China for many years to treat Aplastic anemia, a condition in which the body stops producing enough new blood cells and Myelodysplastic syndrome or preleukemia; both are associated with Telomerase abnormality.
METHODThe five-year study, led by UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center member Dr. Jianyu Rao, measured the ability of TSY-1 to affect Telomerase activity in cancer cells lines, including one known as HL-60, as well as normal peripheral blood mononuclear and hematopoietic stem cells. Rao’s team used various approaches, including assays of Telomerase activity, measurement of cell growth, and gene expression profiling of TSY-1 treated cells, to determine how it acts. The results showed that the target of TSY-1 activity is the TERT gene. TERT is the major regulatory component of Telomerase activity.
IMPACTThe recent findings of TSY-1 provide the foundation and support for further clinical studies to demonstrate the clinical benefit of this treatment eventually for treatment of cancer and blood cell deficiencies.
AUTHORSIn addition to Dr. Jianyo Rao, senior author of the study and professor in the department of pathology and laboratory medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Dr. Weibo Yu is first author of the study and a research scholar and post-doctoral fellow at UCLA. Other co-authors of the study include: Dr. Gang Zeng, associate professor in the department of urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Dr. Zuo-Feng Zhang, professor in the department of epidemiology at the Fielding School of Public Health at UCLA.
JOURNALThe study will be published online in the journal, OncoTarget on December 14, 2016.
FUNDINGThe research was supported by Beijing Boyuantaihe Biological Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing, China ***The UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has more than 450 researchers and clinicians engaged in cancer research, prevention, detection, control, treatment and education. One of the nation's largest comprehensive cancer centers, the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center is dedicated to promoting research and translating basic science into leading-edge clinical studies. In August 2016, UCLA Health medical centers ranked among the top five hospitals for adult cancer care nationwide by U.S. News & World Report.
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