UTRGV researchers hail cancer cell breakthrough
Work headed by a team of students and medical researchers at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley believe they may have discovered a key factor in cancer cells’ survival and spread.
Dr. Manish Tripathi, assistant professor in immunology and microbiology, and his research team have identified a type of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) that plays that role in cancer metastasis. Tripathi’s research is funded through an $18 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, which was awarded to the UTRGV School of Medicine to help address health disparities in the Valley.
“My aim is to understand the mechanism of cancer progression and metastasis,” Tripathi said, adding that he had particular interest on what causes cancer cells to metastasize.
He explained that about more than 90% of cancer-related deaths are due to metastasis, which is when the primary cancer moves onto a secondary organ.
Through their research, Tripathi and his team identified a higher expression of lncRNA that works through a phenomenon referred to as the Warburg effect, which is when cancer cells preferentially use aerobic glycolysis to produce energy rather than oxidative phosphorylation.
An lncRNA is a type of RNA molecule that is longer than 200 nucleotides and does not code for a protein.
Tripathi explained that lncRNA regulates gene expression by interacting with transpiration factors, chromatin and miRNA.
He added that due to its control of gene expression some lncRNA can perform different functions that can enhance aerobic glycolysis, proliferation allowing cancer progression and metastasis.
During normal cell function, a healthy person’s body will go through a process called anchorage dependence growth. This is when cells can only grow and survive when they are attached to surfaces such as tissue.
In order to stop cell growth outside its surface, cells that detach will go through anoikis, a process in which cells die when they detach from the extracellular matrix, preventing abnormal growth of cells in other locations in the body.
Tripathi explained that cancer cells go through anchorage independent growth, which is when cells grow outside of a surface.
He added that cancer cells rely on anoikis resistance in order to move into a secondary organ and continue to metastasize.
To move through the body, Tripathi explained that cancer cells require energy which is where the lncRNA’s role in cancer cell survival comes into play.
According to Tripathi, this particular type of lncRNA is an oncogenic lncRNA and works through a protein called GLUT1 protein, a glucose transporter that moves glucose into cells from blood.
The glucose promotes cancer cell survival and metastasis.
Although he is currently studying colorectal and liver cancer, Tripathi believes that lncRNA is also effective in other cancers.
Now that he and his team have identified this lncRNA, Tripathi hopes to present his research as a novel therapeutic target, which is when researchers attempt to develop new treatments for a disease by targeting the newly identified molecule or cellular process.
He is currently using innovators to attempt to drop the glucose consumption to cause a decrease in cells during the metastasis phase.
He hopes that the lncRNA can eventually be used as a biomarker to target cancer cells that will allow for it to be treated during primary stages of the diagnosis.
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