3 ms·

E.g.: http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=6572 http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=6572 "These rodents are protected from cancer because their tiss

E.g.: http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=6572 http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=6572 "These rodents are protected from cancer because their tissues are very rich with high molecular weight hyaluronan (HMW-HA)."

agumonkey 10y ago
Weird, from what I get from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyaluronic_acid#Functions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyaluronic_acid#Functions hyaluran helps cell migrations (metastatis)...
DrScump 10y ago
No, they are protected from cancer because naked mole rats never get cancer, to our knowledge. HMW-HA is a correlation that has not been proven to be effective for preventing cancer elsewhere. Remember, such claims used to be made about shark cartilage, too.
- reasonattlm 10y ago
  Read a little deeper. This is a part of the investigations into the way in which p16 works in naked mole rats. If it isn't HWM-HA then it is something in its chain of relationships. "When HMW-HA was removed, the cells became susceptible to tumors, confirming that the chemical did play a role in making naked mole rats cancer-proof. [The] team also identified the gene, named HAS2, responsible for making HMW-HA in the naked mole rat. Surprisingly, the naked mole rat gene was different from HAS2 in all other animals. In addition naked mole rats were very slow at recycling HMW-HA, which contributed to the accumulation of the chemical in the animals' tissues. [Previously researchers] showed that the p16 gene in naked mole rats stopped the proliferation of cells when too many of them crowd together. In their latest work, the two biologists identified HMW-HA as the chemical that activates the anti-cancer response of the p16 gene."
  - DrScump 10y ago
    I read the study, not just the article. (Perhaps you missed "elsewhere" in my statement above.) Again, there are many steps before such a claim could be made, let alone before having a safe and effective "cure" using it. You can't just genetically engineer humans to manufacture and maintain large amounts of HWM-HA in their bloodstreams.

agumonkey 10y ago

Weird, from what I get from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyaluronic_acid#Functions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyaluronic_acid#Functions hyaluran helps cell migrations (metastatis)...

DrScump 10y ago

No, they are protected from cancer because naked mole rats never get cancer, to our knowledge. HMW-HA is a correlation that has not been proven to be effective for preventing cancer elsewhere. Remember, such claims used to be made about shark cartilage, too.

reasonattlm 10y ago
Read a little deeper. This is a part of the investigations into the way in which p16 works in naked mole rats. If it isn't HWM-HA then it is something in its chain of relationships. "When HMW-HA was removed, the cells became susceptible to tumors, confirming that the chemical did play a role in making naked mole rats cancer-proof. [The] team also identified the gene, named HAS2, responsible for making HMW-HA in the naked mole rat. Surprisingly, the naked mole rat gene was different from HAS2 in all other animals. In addition naked mole rats were very slow at recycling HMW-HA, which contributed to the accumulation of the chemical in the animals' tissues. [Previously researchers] showed that the p16 gene in naked mole rats stopped the proliferation of cells when too many of them crowd together. In their latest work, the two biologists identified HMW-HA as the chemical that activates the anti-cancer response of the p16 gene."
- DrScump 10y ago
  I read the study, not just the article. (Perhaps you missed "elsewhere" in my statement above.) Again, there are many steps before such a claim could be made, let alone before having a safe and effective "cure" using it. You can't just genetically engineer humans to manufacture and maintain large amounts of HWM-HA in their bloodstreams.