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Pancreatic cancer cells are remarkably good at doing one thing: growing. But new Texas A&M research suggests that two tiny molecules already present in the body may help slow them down.

Researchers at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) and the College of Education and Human Development found that increasing levels of two microRNAs, known as miR-15a and miR-16, reduced protein synthesis and slowed the growth of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells.

In a study published in Physiological Reports, the researchers also shared that patients with higher levels of the microRNAs in their tumors tended to live longer, further supporting their potential as targets for new pancreatic cancer treatments.

"Cancer cells continually proliferate, or grow and divide," said Dr. James Fluckey, associate dean for research and a professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Sport Management and the study's principal investigator. "To do that, the cells need to increase processes like protein synthesis that give them what they need to grow. If you disrupt that protein synthesis, you can slow the rate at which those cells can grow."

MicroRNAs are short strands of genetic material that help regulate which proteins a cell produces. Rather than providing instructions for making proteins themselves, they can bind to genetic messages and prevent those instructions from being translated into proteins.

Dr. Peter Nghiem, an associate professor in the VMBS Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, compared their role to the brakes on a car.

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