UTHealth Medical School Researchers Discover Electrical Control of Cancer Cell Growth

Experts identified a completely new mechanism that further enhances the activity of the molecular switch called K-Ras connected to growth of cancer cells.

Researchers in The University of Texas Health Science Centre at Houston (UTHealth) in the US have discovered a new electrical mechanism that can control the molecular switches connected to growth of cancer cells.

The findings could lead to new treatments for some of the most lethal types of cancer including pancreatic, colon and lung, which are characterized by uncontrolled cell growth.

New Therapy Slows Spread of Brain Tumor by Cutting Communication of Cancer Cells
When the intercellular channels were shut down in the cancer stem cells, the researchers found significant reduction in the tumor-forming abilities of the cells.

The molecular switches regulating human cell growth do a great job of replacing cells that die during the course of a lifetime. But when they misfire, life-threatening cancers can occur.

The research focused on a molecular switch called K-Ras. Mutated versions of K-Ras are found in a number of cancers and these mutations lock the K-Ras switch in the on position.

"When K-Ras is locked in the on position, it drives cell division, which leads to the production of a cancer," said the study's senior author John Hancock from The University of Texas Health Science Centre at Houston.

Photodynamic Therapy May Help in Complete Elimination of Ovarian Cancer Cells
Photodynamic therapy is a safe and non-toxic approach to defeat the mechanism of cancer cells by using a photosensitizing compound that stops its reoccurrence.

"We have identified a completely new molecular mechanism that further enhances the activity of K-Ras," Hancock said. The study focused on the tiny electrical charges that all cells carry.

"What we have shown is that the electrical potential (charge) that a cell carries is inversely proportional to the strength of a K-Ras signal," Hancock said.

Chemically Modified Nucleotides Could Be Used for Specific Killing of Cancer Cells
Exploiting the unexpected killing of cancer cells by epigenetically modified nucleotides demonstrated that they can be used as a specific anti-cancer agent.

"Our results may finally account for a long-standing but unexplained observation that many cancer cells actively try to reduce their electrical charge," first author of the study Yong Zhou, assistant professor of integrative biology and pharmacology at UTHealth Medical School, said.

Initial work was done with human and animal cells and findings were subsequently confirmed in a fruit fly model.

Microfluidic Device Tracks Chemical Signals That Trigger Cancer Cells To Grow
The microfluidic device improves the understanding of how cancerous growth begins and identifies new targets for cancer medications.

The study was published in the journal Science.

Source-IANS