Fluorescent probes light up cancerous tumours
Building on his Nobel Prize-winning work creating fluorescent proteins that light up the inner workings of cells, a team of researchers led by Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Roger Tsien, PhD, professor of pharmacology, chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego and the Moores UCSD Cancer Centre has developed biological probes that can stick to and light up tumours in mice. The scientists were able to spot and remove more cancerous tissue in mice injected with the fluorescent probes than in those mice without the fluorescent probes, upping survival five-fold. The findings - reported online the week of February 15 in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - are the latest steps in research aimed at helping surgeons see the outlines of cancerous tumours in real time, and promise to open new doors to using molecular tools in the operating room...