During development, the intestinal tract needs to grow asymmetrically. If it cannot, an infant is born with an intestinal birth defect. While studying this phenomenon, researchers at North Carolina State University discovered the compound heterotaxin, which not only causes intestinal birth defects; it may also inhibit cancer development. The birth defect inducing (teratogenic) nature of heteroaxin is a result of its negative effects on development. The compound also increases cell adhesion (and therefore cell migration) and inhibits normal blood vessel formation, melanogenesis, and epithelialA type of tissue (epithelium) that covers our exposed surfaces, such as skin. Also lines our hollow or tube-like organs/tissues such as the digestive tract. Since these tissues are often exposed to environmental insults such as chemicals and solar radiation and are often divide rapidly to replace lost cells, many cancers arise in epithelial tissues.-mesenchymal transition, all of which are key steps in cancer development.
Further research must be conducted on heterotaxin before it can be used as a drug. This finding is reminiscent of the discovery that thalidomide, the infamous drug that caused numerous birth defects in England, could be used to stop the process of angiogenesisThe formation of blood vessels. This process is required for a tumor to grow past a small size since the blood delivers nutrients to the cells in the tumor mass. and thus limit a tumor growth.
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