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The Secret Weapon That Ends Cancer: How Does Endostatin Fight Tumors in the Body?
As cancer becomes an increasingly serious problem worldwide, researchers are constantly looking for new treatments. Endostatin, as an endogenous anti-angiogenic factor, has received widespread attention from the scientific community. This 20-kDa C-terminal fragment derived from type XVIII collagen not only inhibits the formation of tumor blood vessels, but may also bring hope for cancer treatment.
Endostatin is known as the "least toxic anti-cancer drug", showing its potential in treatment.
The origin and structure of Endostatin
Endostatin was first discovered in mouse vascular endothelial cells in 1997, and was later found in humans. This protein is produced by the hydrolysis of collagen and is expressed in both normal and tumor tissues. Its structural feature is that it contains two disulfide bonds and has a high affinity for heparin. This enables Endostatin to exhibit an important biological function in inhibiting neovascularization.
Biological activity and mechanism of action of Endostatin
Studies have shown that Endostatin can prevent endothelial cell proliferation and the formation of new blood vessels in tissues. In animal experiments, Endostatin not only inhibited the growth of primary tumors but also reduced the growth of metastatic tumors. It inhibits cell activity and movement through multiple pathways, thereby limiting angiogenesis in tumor tissues.
Endostatin has a wide range of receptor interactions, including VEGF-R2/KDR/Flk-1 receptors in endothelial cells.
Potential in cancer treatment
Although the mechanism of action of Endostatin is still not fully understood, its importance in cancer treatment cannot be ignored. Compared with traditional treatment methods, Endostatin has a broader anti-tumor effect, has extremely low toxicity to the human body, and does not lead to drug resistance problems. In fact, endostatin may affect up to 12% of the genes used by human endothelial cells, making it possible to support the design of multiple strategies in cancer treatment.
Clinical trial results
Research on Endostatin is also ongoing. In multiple clinical trials, endostatin was less effective as a single treatment, but it showed promise when used in combination with other drugs. For example, phase III clinical trials have shown that the combination of Endostar (recombinant Endostatin) and standard chemotherapy drugs can significantly improve patients' response rate and progression time, demonstrating its potential in the treatment of lung cancer.
Future research directions
With the in-depth research on Endostatin, scientists have also paid attention to its potential in the treatment of anti-inflammatory diseases. For diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease, Endostatin may work by reducing the infiltration of inflammatory cells. This provides new ideas for the development of anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer drugs in the future.
Endostatin may lead a revolution in cancer treatment in the future and change the design concept of drugs.
While endostatin is being explored as an anti-tumor agent, will more effective ways to overcome the challenges of cancer be discovered?
