A team of South Korean scientists say they have found a way to produce the human body's own cancer-killing cells through gene therapy, offering new hope to cancer sufferers.
The team said they had found that a gene called Vitamin D3 Upregulated Protein 1 (VDUP1) plays a crucial role in directing stem cells to diversify into immune cells known as natural killer cells.
Natural killer (NK) cells are large, granular blood cells known as lymphocytes that are able to eliminate virus-infected cells as well as tumour cells.
"Stem cells can develop into various cells and organs in the body," Inpyo Choi said, leader of the team from the state-financed Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology in Daejeon.
"We have found that when hematopoietic stem cells diversify into NK cells, the gene, Vitamin D3 Upregulated Protein 1 (VDUP1), plays a decisive role.
"We have also succeeded in developing technology needed to induce stem cells obtained from a patient's bone marrow to diversify into immune cells and activate them.
"This is the first step toward developing new treatments using our own immune system to fight cancers and other serious diseases."
The result of the study, which comes as scientists look for ways to supplement existing cancer treatments including chemotherapy, radiology and surgical operations, was published last week in Immunity, a journal of immunology.
The team investigated the role of the VDUP1 gene by breeding mice lacking the gene.
The researchers found that these mice showed minimal changes in the development of other immune cells, but there was a "profound reduction" in the numbers of natural killer cells and decreases in the activity of the cells.
In the VDUP1-deprived mice the expression of a protein called CD122 - a pre-cursor for natural killer cells - was reduced, showing that the gene was required for CD122 expression and the maturation of natural killer cells.
"These results suggest that VDUP1 is a critical factor for the development and function of NK cells in vivo," the team said.
Yoon Suk-Ran, a member of the team, said they had extracted stem cells from mice and developed them into NK cells.
They injected these cells into mice with skin cancers and confirmed the tumors were contained or killed.
"By developing this method, we may extract stem cells from a patient's bone marrow, culture NK cells and inject them back into the patient's body to treat cancers," he said.
South Korea has selected biotechnology, together with robotics and nano technology, as strategic sectors for future development and supports them with government subsidies for research.
-AFP
Human Genetics
A  has been discovered that turns  into  killers, promising new treatments that boost the body's ability to destroy tumors.

 scientists from the  in Daejeon say that the gene,  (VDUP1), spurs stem cells to become .

These components of the  can eliminate virus-infected and cancerous cells.  Research leader Inpyo Choi says the team observed that VDUP1 plays a decisive role in causing stem cells to become natural killers. 

The discovery was made by examining mice bred to lack the gene. The mice had a dramatic reduction in the number and activity of natural killer cells. 

Besides determining the gene's importance to the immune system, Choi and colleagues have developed technology needed to spur the creation of natural killers from a person's own  stem cells. 

Choi calls this "the first step toward developing new treatments using our own immune system to fight cancers and other serious diseases." 

The research is reported in the journal ''''.