A study published in The EMBO Journal opens new perspectives to better understand how the molecular mechanisms involved in regenerative medicine work. The study focuses on tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and its receptors TNFR, molecules of key interest in biomedicine due to their involvement in multiple diseases such as obesity related to type 2 diabetes mellitus, inflammatory bowel disease and several types of cancer.
Florenci Serras, from the Faculty of Biology and the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Barcelona (IBUB). The work also involves experts from the UB's Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBIO), the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) and the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS).
The findings indicate that tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) - a cellular activity modulating protein - has two TNFR receptors that can display completely opposite functions in response to biological tissue injury: specifically, one receptor enhances cell survival and regeneration, while the other can promote cell death.
The study, carried out using the Drosophila melanogaster study model, could contribute to the design of TNFR receptor agonist and antagonist molecules that stimulate the regeneration of epithelial tissues in patients with severe burns, or affected by inflammatory bowel diseases and some cancers.
Drosophila: a model for studying human diseases
Communication between cells is a decisive process in the development and physiology of organisms. One of the pathways of cell communication is the secretion of molecules - e.g. tumour necrosis factor (TNF-α) - that have specific functions in biological cells, tissues and organs.
