Originally published August 7 2005
Scientists might have found a key to cell behavior
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A new study on RedNova.com states that scientists have discovered how cells within the human body communicate with each other, which may lead to the development of a cure for cancer and many other diseases.
This inaudible gabfest is the never-ending chatter among the trillions of cells inside each person, animal and plant.
Much is still unknown, but the research could lead to new treatments for cancer, Parkinson's, epilepsy and many other diseases.
"The language of all cellular societies is based not on sounds or gestures but on chemistry," neurobiologist Debra Niehoff wrote in her new book, "The Language of Life."
Special proteins called "receptors" wait, like doormen, on the surfaces of other cells to receive incoming signals and relay them via "second messengers" to the interior.
By decoding these transporters and receptors, doctors learn how to use drugs to intercept or moderate harmful or unpleasant messages.
For example, painkillers such as aspirin and morphine work by blocking pain signals.
You couldn't see, hear, smell, taste or feel anything without the help of these busy little molecular mail-carriers.
On the other hand, miscommunication between cells "can precipitate a catastrophe," Niehoff wrote.
For example, certain malignant tumors use a transmitter called GABA to communicate with one another and their environment as they spread to other cells, a process called metastasis.
"We may be able to evaluate drugs that affect GABA signaling to treat these aggressive types of cancers," Jeffrey Gordon, the director of the Center for Genome Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, reported in the July 12 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Another researcher, Eric Gouaux, a biochemist at Columbia University, recently discovered the chemical structure of a transporter that's involved in depression and other neurological disorders.
He hopes his discovery will help experts design better drug treatments for these common afflictions.
Three years ago, scientists discovered a set of light receptors in the eye, in addition to the familiar rods and cones, that determine whether it's night or day.
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