Could the ‘central dogma’ of biology be misleading bioengineers?

Key takeawaysMesenchymal stem cells, found in bone marrow, secrete therapeutic proteins that could potentially help regenerate damaged tissue.A UCLA study examining these cells challenges the conventional understanding of which genetic instructions prompt the release of these therapeutic proteins.The  findings could help advance both regenerative medicine research and the laboratory production of biologic treatments already in use.Today, medicines based on antibodies— proteins that fight infection and disease —are prescribed for everything from cancer to COVID-19 to high cholesterol.The antibody drugs are supplied by genetically engineered cells that function as tiny protein-producing factories in the laboratory.Meanwhile, researchers have been targeting cancer, injuries to internal organs and a host of other ailments with new strategies in which similarly engineered cells are implanted directly into patients.These biotechnology applications rely on the principle that altering a cell ’s DNA to produce more of the genetic instructions for making a given protein will cause the cell to release more of that protein.Anew UCLA study suggests that — at least in one type of stem cell — the principle doesn’t necessarily hold true.The researchers examined mesenchymal stem cells, which reside in bone marrow and can self-renew or develop into bone, fat or muscle cells.Mesenchymal cells secrete a protein growth factor called VEGF-A, which plays a role in regenerating blood ve...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news