Ohio University Finds Bond between Asbestos, Human Cell Tissue

In a study initiated in 2008, Ohio University researchers are just beginning to discover the complexity of asbestos' interaction with human cellular tissue.

Last year, these researchers reported finding, at the molecular level, the foundations of cancer by examining the individual bonds between an asbestos fiber and human cells.

Using atomic force microscopy, they observed how a single asbestos fiber attaches to a specific receptor protein on the surface of cells.

The atomic force microscope, or AFM, is an instrument that analyzes and characterizes tissue samples at the microscopic level ranging from 100 microns, the width of a human hair, to as little as one micron. Using the microscope's tip, commonly less than 100Å (Angstrom units) in diameter, scientists can measure the attractant or repellant force (e.g., the piezoelectric force) of samples, and scanning software records these forces as a topographical representation. This type of microscopy can measure a number of sample characteristics of human cellular tissue and elements found in nature that other forms of microscopy cannot.

Asbestos, a naturally occurring mineral found in rock formations throughout the world, occurs as: chrysotile, crocidolite, amosite, tremolite, actinolite, and anthophyllite. These six can be found as both fragmented and fibrous forms, and cause a number of diseases, most commonly asbestosis (a chronic respiratory disease), lung cancer, and malignant mesothelioma, a rare cancer of mesothelial tissues in the lung and abdomen.

During this first year, researchers have focused on crocidolite, or blue asbestos, one of the amphibole group of asbestos minerals, Eventually, they hope to observe how all six forms interact with proteins on cell surfaces, based on their knowledge that - while some forms of asbestos dissolve in the lungs or tissues, forms like crocidolite bind to cells, especially at high concentrations, and trigger cancer.

After a year of observation, researchers are more and more concluding that crocidolite sets up a sequence of events inside cells that leads to illness decades later. This cascade effect, which begins by asbestos binding to the cell surface, triggers a signaling factor at the cellular level that initiates the formation of cancer.

The first protein being studied is epidermal growth factor receptor, present on the surface of every human cell. Figuring out the binding process, establishing the level of binding activity, and observing the signaling event will potentially help researchers establish how to prevent, or even undo, that interaction.

This work is being supported by the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Labor, which estimates that about 1.3 million workers have been exposed to asbestos, hopes the ongoing research will eventually deliver some answers about the causative and preventative factors surrounding asbestos exposure

It is early days for the research, however. Typically, this kind of research doesn't begin to deliver solutions for at least five years, and more commonly a decade. However, if solutions are found, the researchers say, they will likely come in the form of drugs or other therapies which interfere with the process at the molecular level, by preventing asbestos from forming the lesions that lead to cancer.

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a division of the Centers for Disease Control, deaths from malignant mesothelioma increased from 2,482 deaths in 1999 to 2,704 deaths in 2005, but the rate was stable based on population rise. For the period 1999-2005, the rates were highest in California, at 1,779 deaths, followed by Florida (1,213), Pennsylvania (1,211), and New York (1,051). Based on states' populations, Vermont ranked first, followed by Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee and New Mexico.

Sources: Centers for Disease Control, Wired News, ScienceDaily, Bio-medicine.org

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