In a recent study published in The Journal of Investigative Dermatology , researchers developed a genetic treatment targeting the causal NRAS c.181C>A mutation in congenital melanocytic naevus (CMN) using small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) to suppress its expression and induce lesion clearance. Study: RNA therapy for oncogenic NRAS-driven naevi induces apoptosis .
Image Credit: Stock-Asso/Shutterstock.com RAS proteins are critical for cell divisions, differentiation, and apoptotic processes. Oncogenic RAS variations cause cancer, but they can also induce benign lesions such as thyroid nodules, colonic polyps, and melanocytic naevi.
Reversing these damages may lower cancer incidence, but their effects are difficult to combat using downstream system inhibitors. Severe CMN is a leading cause of illness and death in children. Targeting the NRAS c.
181C>A, p.(Q61K) pathogenic variation might be an effective precision medicine strategy for identifying disease persistence pathways. In the present study, researchers created siRNAs that target the variant allele of CMN to cure lesions and offer a therapeutic method for cancer prevention.
The researchers cultured CMN naevus cells from eight children with CMN, obtaining their skin samples by punch biopsy or surgical excision. They used developed and optimized siRNA in human colorectal carcinoma (HCT116) cells. They imaged the isolated primary CMN naevus cells using ptychographic imaging to analyze naevus cell form and behavior in.
