New hope for patients with liver cancer

According to a study published on June 20, the US National Science Institute website, a group of scientists has succeeded in finding the complex mechanisms of liver regeneration through studying a responsible protein. Genetic decoding.

One of the authors who participated in the study, Associate Professor Atsushi Suzuki of the Bioregulation Institute of Medicine at Kyushu University, said reducing the amount of protein that controls copying of gene information, or factor Star code, stimulates the development of liver cells .

Image illustrates the liver

Associate Professor Suzuki said: " By finding out how to control the factor, this code, we can determine the cause of diseases such as cirrhosis and liver cancer, thereby developing therapies for these patients. this disease. "

The liver has a strong reproductive ability. In a mouse experiment, scientists found that a liver after 70% removal had regained its original size in about a week to 10 days.

In the study, the team focused on understanding why the code called " snail " plays an important role in cell development and other functions.

When they removed part of the liver of the rat, the amount of " snail " inside the liver cells began to drop significantly in 12 hours before the liver cells began to grow again.