LLU Medical Center implants world's smallest pacemaker in first United States patient
 Mrs. Zipp and Ruchir Sehra, MD, discuss the first United States implant of the world's smallest pacemaker in her 3-month-old son, Alexavier, during a press conference. The pacemaker is approximately the size of two stacked quarters. |
It was a scientist named Leonard Hayflick who discovered that most normal human cell types lose their ability to divide and ultimately die after undergoing a limited number of cell divisions.
Such cells contain no active telomerase, an enzyme required to maintain chromosome stability in dividing cells.
In contrast, most cancer cells have an unlimited ability to undergo cell division, and these "immortal" cells almost always contain measurably active telomerase, which they produce continuously.
"We are successfully exploiting this difference between normal cells and cancer cells to detect the presence of cancer cells in the prostate gland," says Richard E. Beltz, PhD, emeritus professor of biochemistry, School of Medicine.
Dr. Beltz is a member of a research group that recently published several articles on its research in the professional journal Urologic Oncology. The first article is titled "Detection of telomerase activity in prostatic fluid specimens," Urologic Oncology, volume 6 (2001).
Also published was "Telomerase activity in sextant needle cores from radical prostatectomy specimens," Urologic Oncology, volume 6 (2001). A third in the series is being prepared.
Scientists contributing to the research and preparation of the articles include individuals from the School of Medicine department of biochemistry and LLUMC department of surgery's division of urology. They are Zhilian Wang, MD; Soroush A. Ramin, MD; Christopher Tsai, MD; Paul Liu, MD; Percy J. Herbert, MS; Eru Kyeyune-Nyombi, PhD; Herbert C. Ruckle, MD; Dr. Beltz; and John F. Sands, PhD.