>>BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 30, 2003-- Boston Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: BLSI - News) announced that Troponin I has been shown to markedly suppress the expression of key genes associated with blood vessel cell (endothelial cell) division and growth. BLSI has been developing Troponin I as an anti-angiogenic treatment for solid tumors and their metastases.
Typically, endothelial cells upregulate (i.e. stimulate) certain "proliferative-response" genes in reaction to angiogenic factors such as Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF), which may be generated by tumors to promote blood vessel development (angiogenesis) necessary for tumor growth. However, we have observed that when blood vessel cells were treated with Troponin I prior to exposure to FGF, the expression of some of these genes was suppressed in some cases by up to 90% compared to expression stimulated by treatment with FGF alone. These results suggest that Troponin's anti-angiogenic and anti-cancer effects may be due at least in part to a broad-based suppression of tumor-induced angiogenesis at the fundamental level of gene expression.
"These preliminary results are not only an important step in our understanding of how Troponin works, but more importantly they imply that Troponin is working in a way that may be different from other naturally-occurring anti-angiogenic factors," stated Marc Lanser, MD, Chief Scientific Officer of BLSI. "We believe that if these results are confirmed by detailed quantitative analysis, Troponin's ability to suppress these genes could indicate a broad, fundamental basis for its anti-angiogenic and anti-cancer activities," added Dr. Lanser. <<
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Cheers, Tuck |
