To cure and ill the molecule itself

2003/02/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Medikuntza

Stem cells are able to reproduce and become any type of cell. For their part, cancer cells reproduce uncontrollably and make the person sick. However, in both cases the same protein participates in the reproductive process. In the mouse it has been observed that the protein called nucleostemin can play an important role in cell division. British and American researchers have detected large amounts of this protein in the stem cells of mice raised in the laboratory during reproduction.

And the same has been observed in some human cancer cells. However, once the reproductive process is completed, the protein disappears from the cell nucleus. In the process of cell proliferation many proteins intervene and nucleostemin does not have to be more important than the rest, but the similarity between stem cells and cancer cells has aroused a great curiosity among researchers.