Not so long ago, the epidemic of zika virus was a real problem which, fortunately, managed to cope. But a group of scientists from Cambridge University have suggested that a dreadful virus, you may be able to use for the treatment of glioblastoma (one of the types of brain tumors). Currently, experts are preparing to conduct experiments on mice.
According to one of the authors surveying Dr Harvey Bulstrode, glioblastoma cells is very similar to a growing brain cells. The virus, Zeke is the greatest danger to young children and pregnant women. In adults, the virus causes symptoms similar to the common cold. In addition, experts also suggest that the virus can be modified so that “configure” it to the fact that he hit only tumour cells.
The idea is to treat one disease, the other not so new. For example, the same glioblastoma, a group of scientists from Texas tried to treat altered strain of adenovirus. They had created a strain Delta24, affecting solely tumor cells. The rationale for such therapy is quite simple: penetrating the cancer cell, the virus begins to proliferate as long as the cell does not die, and after the death of her released viruses infect other cells and so on. Having an affinity for a particular type of cell, the viruses will not affect a healthy. This method of treatment in 2015 already is at the stage of experimentation on human subjects: three volunteers failed to achieve complete remission, and some of the tumor significantly decreased in size. There are even developments in the treatment of melanoma. A few years ago approved the release of the drug under the name “Talmage lagerpeton”. It is a genetically modified herpes virus that infects only cancer cells, since healthy protein is missing he needs.
But if you go back to the virus, Zeke, in this case, researchers have suggested that particularly hard to modify the virus won’t have to. Simply it “weaken”. Thus, a side effect of anticancer therapy is the “common cold”. At the moment, scientists from Cambridge are preparing for a series of tests on mice and looking for ways to overcome the virus of the blood-brain barrier, so as to introduce it directly is not very convenient.
Scientists from the UK test method of treatment of brain tumors using the zika virus
Vladimir Kuznetsov