Usually, the tendon never heals to its former strength. If CDS-1 works as expected, it will stimulate adult cells themselves to produce larger amounts of procollagen, as if they were embryonic cells. That would be a first for cell biology, Schwarz says, since scientists have never before, by design, reversed cell development. As CDS-1 induces cells to produce procollagen, it also prevents them from growing. That growth-inhibiting action may prove effective against connective tissue cancers, Schwarz says.
Cancer cells lose that.
Connective tissue cancers are rare. Osteosarcomas, or bone cancers, which are slightly more common than those of tendons or ligaments, most often strike teenagers. The treatment of choice frequently is amputation. Besides its potential practical benefits, Schwarz's discovery promises to shed light on basic questions about cell growth and differentiation. Experiments that he is conducting with CDS-1 may help explain how cells detect that other cells are nearby.