They discover a protein that modifies the metabolism of breast cancer cells

2011/05/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Biokimika
• Osasuna
• Medikuntza

In a study published in March in the journal Cancer Cell, one more step is taken on the road to understanding the causes of cancer development, and especially breast cancer. In fact, they have seen that the presence or absence of a certain protein, SIRT 3, in cells, is a cause of disease progression. The research has been led by Dr. Marcia Haigis of the Harvard Medical School, and has had the collaboration of Dr. Arkaitz Carracedo, researcher of the Proteomics Laboratory of CIC bioGUNE.

One of the main objectives of the scientists is to identify the different characteristics of normal cells and cancers, to subsequently remove aberrant cells and develop therapies that do not affect normal cells. About 100 years ago, researcher Otto Warburg saw that tumor cells have a different metabolism. In their view, cancer cells do not use energy to produce food, but to produce more biomass and cells, that is, to divide, reproduce, etc. "In recent years we have better understood this phenomenon and this change in metabolism is known as the Warburg effect," explains Carracedo.

Dr. Haigis's team has focused on some of the proteins that regulate cell metabolism, called Sirtuins, and has proven to provoke the Warburg effect. In fact, they have seen that if the SIRT 3 protein in the cells disappears from the Sirtuin family, cells change their way of feeding and processing food, adopting a behavior similar to that of cancer cells.

"The SIRT 3 protein is the cellular "guardian" that guarantees the proper functioning of metabolic processes. Because by losing the protein SIRT 3, another very important protein for cells (HIF1 ?), which has to be strictly controlled, loses control and transforms metabolism," explains Carracedo.

The group of researchers has found that in many types of cancer, and especially in breast cancer, the SIRT 3 protein appears at low levels and other indicators of metabolism alteration. Thus, it has been concluded that it may be interesting to develop drugs for activation of the protein for the treatment of cancer.