Clapper, Patti, Schweizer and Mason

Today at 1:40 p.m. at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco, a presentation will be given about “The Strength of Disease: Molecular Bonds Between Asbestos and Human Cells.” 

 

Eric Taylor, a doctoral candidate in earth sciences at Ohio State, and Steven Lower, an associate professor of earth sciences at Ohio State, are authors of a study to see how a single asbestos fiber binds with a specific receptor protein on human cell surfaces. Other studies have been done to investigate how the needle-like asbestos fibers trigger asbestos-induced cancers using non-human cells. This is the first study to examine the biological mechanisms by which asbestos fibers are incorporated into human cells. 

 

Because asbestos fibers are virtually invisible to the naked eye, the researchers are using atomic force microscopy to observe what happens inside cells when they come into contact with asbestos. The study is currently focusing on a particular type of blue asbestos known as crocidolite, considered to be the most dangerous of the six types of asbestos that exist.  Crocidolite was used in building materials and construction as insulation until the mid-1980’s. Exposure to asbestos can lead to lung cancer, asbestosis, and mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a cancer that forms in the lining of the lungs, causes hardening of the lung tissues, creates severe breathing difficulties, and is fatal.

 

The latest press release from the Science Daily News says the researchers are hoping to discover the chain of events that occur when the asbestos fiber comes into contact with the human cell in hopes to find a way to intervene and prevent disease after someone has been exposed to asbestos.