Harvesting the Benefits of Understanding Cancer with the Use of ?Shuttle? Era Technology- Cellular Survival Strategies and Tissue Engineering Via Grafting of Genetically Immortalized Autologous Cells

Abstract

This review aims to focus on several of the advantages that an improved understanding of the biology of cancer may offer medicine. Following in the wake of my recent review demonstrating the close molecular mechanistic relationship between heart survival mechanisms and those of cancer under environmental challenge I examine how cancer can provide survival answers for tissues under physiological challenge. I continue the basis of this discussion with the argument that cancer can offer clues as to how to better develop reliable and sound strategies for tissue/organ regeneration. For a number of years the concept with the use of stem cells to enable tissue and/ or organ regeneration has gained attention. Indeed, recently, tooth buds have been regenerated from mouse stem cells allowing complete tooth regeneration in vivo. In this review, the focus is on alternative means for tissue/ organ regeneration by harnessing the all-sort-after property of cellular immortality that cancer possesses in its armamentarium. Literature is presented to demonstrate the utility and practicality of immortal genetic modification of autologous post-mitotic and senescent cells for reimplantation. This process may be of practical value in numerous medical situations from degenerative neurological diseases, wound healing, hair follicle replacement and auditory repair to aiding functional repair of cardiac disease to name but a few. The rational benefits of this technique are presented over stem cell technologies and potential technical obstacles are outlined that may need to be overcome. Novel technologies derived from the use of shuttle expression vectors are outlined here to screen for therapyresistance genes in cancer. These methods may be further enhanced and developed to allow delineation of genes involved in preventing cellular senescence whilst not transforming cells to a cancerous phenotype. These genes can subsequently be used in genetic modification of autologously harvested cells for re-implantation to enable tissue and/or organ regeneration.