Now in our 13th year of bringing you beautiful imagery from biomedical science every day

Search the archive of over 4000 images

Pied Piper Silenced
15 October 2014

Pied Piper Silenced

Therapies for stopping the spread of cancer usually target malignant cells but another approach is to make healthy tissue less vulnerable to invasion. In clinical trials, a substance called olaptesed pegol is being tested as a treatment for multiple myeloma, a type of cancer that forms bone tumours – like those seen here, as yellow and light brown patches, in a coloured X-ray image of a patient’s skull. Scientists designed olaptesed pegol to disable a protein called SDF-1, which in healthy bone marrow behaves rather like the Pied Piper, attracting certain cells to new locations. Suspiciously high levels of SDF-1 were found to be present near the site of myeloma tumours in experimental mice and blocking it seems to have made the bone marrow less alluring to malignant cells, slowing the progress of the cancer and extending the lifespan of the mice.

Written by Mick Warwicker

Search The Archive

Submit An Image

Follow on Tumblr

Follow on Instagram

What is BPoD?

BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

Read More

BPoD is also available in Catalan at www.bpod.cat with translations by the University of Valencia.