A study published in the journal EMBO Journal It opens new avenues to better understand how the molecular mechanisms involved in regenerative medicine work. The work focuses on tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and its receptor TNFR, molecules of key biomedical interest due to their involvement in multiple diseases such as obesity associated with type 2 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease and various types of cancer.
Research, most notably in the section News and opinions For publication, it is led by Professor Florenc Serras, from the Faculty of Biology and the Institute of Biomedicine at the University of UB (IBUB). Experts from the UB Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBIO), the Center for Genome Regulation (CRG), and the August Pi i Sunyer Institute for Biomedical Research (IDIBAPS) are also involved in the work.
The results suggest that tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α)—a protein that modulates cellular activity—has two TNFR receptors capable of performing diametrically opposite functions in response to biological tissue injury: Specifically, one receptor promotes cell survival and regeneration, while the other is capable of promoting cell death.
The research, conducted using the study model Drosophila melanogaster, could contribute to the design of TNFR agonist and antagonist molecules that stimulate epithelial tissue regeneration in patients with severe burns, or affected by inflammatory bowel diseases and some types of cancer.
Fruit fly: a model for studying human diseases
Communication between cells is a crucial process in the development and physiology of living organisms. One method of cell communication is the secretion of molecules—for example, tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α)—that have specific functions in biological cells, tissues, and organs.
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