An unexpected death of tumor cells brought a star molecule to the surface. Recently, at the appraisal meeting organized by the evaluation organization of scientific and technological achievements, a unique immune protein molecule aroused the interest of evaluation experts. "It's very interesting that there are bubbles around in the photos of tumor cell death." Professor Li Chaojun of Nanjing University, chief scientist of the national key R & D program, said that this situation is very similar to cell coke death, which is worthy of further research and application. "This molecule is found in the immune system of lamprey. It can recognize human tumor cells and punch holes from the outside to let tumor cells die." Professor Li Qingwei, the leader of the R & D team and former vice president of Liaoning Normal University, introduced that this star is being used to promote early cancer screening. I wanted to learn from tumor cells, but I killed it Lampreys have lived on the earth for 550 million years. They are jokingly called "zombie fish", which is between invertebrates and vertebrates. "We wanted to culture lamprey cells and tumor cells together and help lamprey cells reproduce with the help of tumor cell proliferation factor." Li Qingwei recalled that unexpectedly, the tumor cells died. Source: visual China With different tumor cells, the results are still the same. The research team felt that lamprey cells must secrete a unique substance, which is fatal to tumor cells. In order to find this substance, the team collected a large number of cell culture supernatants and finally locked lip protein through proteomic technology. The systematic research on this protein was gradually carried out in the following ten years - cracking the protein structure, decoding the corresponding DNA sequence, analyzing the different functions in the protein structure The riddles are unlocked one by one, but people are most concerned about: how do ancient proteins kill tumor cells? Ancient protein "one move kills" tumor cells Under the light microscope, a killing was carried out from near to far. "We 'plated' lip with fluorescence, and the protein molecules labeled with fluorescent groups entered the tumor cell culture medium. Under the microscope, we can see that the fluorescence quickly gathered on the tumor surface, and the tumor cell membrane then ruptured." the photo displayed by Professor Yu Yue of the school of life sciences of Liaoning Normal University reproduces the whole process: large holes appeared on the surface of tumor cells, All the contents in the tumor cells leaked out and killed with one move. More interesting results occurred when the research team "cleaned the battlefield". They collected and tested the ancient proteins on the surface of tumor cells and found that the proteins did not fight alone, but "group" polymers. "We put forward the mechanism of recognition, location, aggregation and killing," said Yun Yue. Research shows that the more polymers, the greater the killing effect. It took the team five years to analyze the whole mechanism, and finally found out that the domain of "lectin" on the protein is responsible for "identification", and the domain of "Aeromonas lysin" can be deeply inserted into the tumor cell membrane for destruction. Star molecule "small test ox knife" The mechanism is clear, and the research has reached the application stage. The team decided to let the star molecules try the ox knife first and verify it in the detection field. Health China action calls for strengthening early screening of cancer. The detection of bladder cancer has been painfully prohibitive and unwilling to screen early. The realization of "dropping urine" screening will make cancer discovery much earlier. "We made the star molecules into a test paper. If the exfoliated bladder epidermal cells in the urine show signs of tumor, they will be warned immediately." Han Yinglun, an associate professor of the school of life sciences of Liaoning Normal University, told the science and Technology Daily that the team first started with the urine test of the school staff physical examination and established a control table indicating the content of molecules, Then we will cooperate with several hospitals in Dalian to conduct clinical research. The value of tumor patients will be 2-3 times higher than the normal value. Related research data showed that the specificity of LIP immunofluorescence test paper for urine detection of bladder cancer reached 85% and specificity was 92%, simple, rapid, micro and non-invasive by using the technology of specific identification of tumor cells by using LIP. "There are not many such testing reagents in the world, and the US FDA currently has three kits on the market." Professor Liu Zhiyu, a review expert and President of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, said that as China's independently developed testing products, especially the source innovation from the target, the current research progress is shocking. The review experts agreed that the project has completely independent intellectual property rights and has reached the international leading level. It is reported that the relevant research has been supported by the national key basic research and development plan of the Ministry of science and technology, the National Natural Science Foundation, the major science and technology platform of colleges and universities in Liaoning Province and other projects for many years. (Xinhua News Agency)