When the amount of a special cellular protein is reduced in the body, facial wrinkles are smoothed out and health-threatening visceral fat is diminished, a recent study revealed. Another fascinating aspect of the protein is that when its level is lessened, cancerous tumors begin to shrink.

Scientists familiar with the research have visions that cutting down the production of the protein known as RHAMM (short for receptor for hyaluronan-mediated motility) may replace surgical facelifts in the future. And it may also outmode injections with potentially dangerous subcutaneous "fillers," and neurotoxins like Botox that eliminate wrinkles but paralyze facial muscles, reducing the face's ability to express emotion.

The research, conducted at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, was done by Mina Bissell, a cell biologist with the Berkeley lab's Life Sciences Division and a leading authority on breast cancer, and Eva Turley, an oncology professor at the University of Western Ontario and a leading authority on tissue polysaccharides. Previously, Turley had discovered RHAMM and shown that when its level was abnormally high, it was associated with higher mortality in cases of human breast, colon, rectal and stomach cancers.

The recent study, which was done on mice, showed that blocking the production of RHAMM, either by removing its gene or by introducing a blocking chemical, results in the restoration of fat cells in the skin that had been lost through aging. It also showed that blocking RHAMM helps eliminate belly fat. Some medications currently on the market boost fat cells in the skin - but they also add belly fat.

"This technique could be developed as a means of providing a non-surgical approach for normalizing skin appearance after reconstructive surgery, for wrinkle reduction, and for facelifts and figure enhancement," said Bissell.

And Turley said, "Unlike neurotoxin agents, which have to be injected periodically, a localized injection of a RHAMM inhibitor should produce long-lasting skin volumizing effects and would not involve muscle paralysis, which means there would be no loss of expression if it were to be injected into the face."

The researchers also suggest that blocking RHAMM could perhaps help patients with obesity-related diseases, cardiovascular disease or diabetes. It might also be used to normalize skin appearance following reconstructive surgery or skin grafts on burn victims.

Reducing RHAMM has also been shown to help with tumors and inflammatory diseases in mice.

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Sources: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090211161936.htm

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