colon – BioQuakes

by Czechmate on Wikimedia Commons

Found in the essential oil extracted from the bark of a cypress tree, a chemical named hinokitiol shows potential to impact epigenetic tags on DNA and stop the activity of genes that assist the growth of tumors.

In order to develop an of understanding cancer, researches have had to comprehend the DNA methylation, an epigenetic function which controls gene expression. In regular DNA methylation, genes that work to fight against tumors are turned on, reducing the risk of cancer. However, if DNA methylation is negatively altered, then those cancer-fighting genes will be silenced, helping to progress cancer development. Scientists have tried to combat irregular DNA methylation and over-silencing of genes by creating epigenetic anti-cancer medications that reverse non-beneficial methylation effects. Like in most cases of medication usage, the users face unappealing side effects. Hinokitiol is attractive to scientists because it is a natural compound with many health benefits and way less side effects than modified drugs that can possibly cause mutagenesis and cytotoxicity.

Researchers from the Korea University College of Medicine tested the productivity of the hinokitiol chemical in a study by giving doses of it to colon cancer cells. It was found that this chemical helped to inhibit the colon cancer cells efficiency without affecting the colon cells without cancer. The scientists also found through careful inspection that the presence of hinokitiol decreases the expression of proteins DNMT1 and UHRF1; both of which are proteins that encourage carcinogenesis. In summary, the doses of hinokitiol appear to have allowed normal cells to remain healthy, while reducing the ability for the colon cancer cells to thrive and ceasing the production of proteins that promote cancer maturation.

Researchers are continuing their search for natural compounds, as opposed to artificial medications, that can prevent the flourishing of cancer in our bodies through playing a positive role in gene expression and DNA methylation.

http://www.whatisepigenetics.com/cypress-trees-epigenetically-protect-cancer/

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Raindrops_on_leyland_cypress.jpg

Scanning electron micrograph of Escherichia coli

Photo by NIAID

Apparently we’re healthier than we thought!!

Throughout the 20th century, scientists who studied the microbiome had thought that humans contain around 9000 times more germs than human cells. Scientists now believe, however, that that number is more like 30 percent.

Micro biologists: Ron Sender, Ron Milo, and Shai Fuchs took on the challenge to actually find out the ratio of bacteria to cells in the human body. First, its important to know the types of cells that make up the human body. One might think that muscle and fat cells make up the largest portion of human cells in the body but that is wildly incorrect. In fact, despite their weight and size dominance, they make up a measly .2 percent of the body’s cells while blood cells make up 90 percent (mostly red blood cells).

The colon houses the most bacteria in the human body by a long shot. This makes sense as it is the pathway for human feces out of the body and reaches up to 5 feet in length. The “trio” of scientists estimate that the human body contains somewhere between 30 trillion and 50 trillion cells and that the bacterial count is around 30 to 60 percent higher than the amount of cells.

Now, despite the insightful findings of Sender, Milo, and Fuchs, the microbiome community still has a lot of research to do into the subject of germ:cell ratio in humans and scientists believe that the trio missed some important factors in their experiments and as geneticist Julie Segre points out, “Other researchers also point out that the new paper’s calculations focused on bacteria. Yet the body can host other types of microbes as well. Those include viruses, fungi and archaea (Ar-KEE-uh). Viruses tend to vastly outnumber bacteria, so they could skew the microbe-to-human cell ratio upwards.”

The most important and prevailing part of the trio’s research was that the amount of bacteria that we have in our body and attached to human cells is much less than we had previously believed.

https://student.societyforscience.org/article/cell-recount-people-host-far-fewer-germs?mode=topic&context=79

Original Article

BioQuakes

AP Biology class blog for discussing current research in Biology

Tag: colon

How A Chemical From the Cypress Tree Could Advance Epigenetics Against Cancer

Sometimes less is better. Especially in the case of germs.

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