Source: McGill Newsroom
A discovery linked to a gene regulating energy production in cancer stem cells could lead to more effective treatment of glioblastoma. Indeed, according to a study conducted by McGill University and published in the journal Nature Communications, gene deletion OSMR may increase the effectiveness of radiation therapy.
Led by the laboratory of Arezu Jahani-Asl, assistant professor of medicine at McGill University, this approach has been shown to be effective in preclinical mouse models: the deletion of the gene OSMR improved tumor response to treatment and significantly lengthened mouse lifespan.
Glioblastoma is the most common brain cancer in adults and, due to its resistance to treatment, the most aggressive. Treatment is usually surgery, followed by chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Despite this intensive management, in most cases there is a resumption of tumor growth and cancer recurrence.
Hungry cancer stem cells
This drug resistance and resumption of tumor growth is the result of rare cancer stem cells present in glioblastoma. However, the team of researchers found that the gene OSMR allowed these stem cells to resist treatment better by strengthening the mitochondria, the cell’s powerhouses. Thus, at the end of the long journey that takes it to the mitochondria, the gene interacts with energy mechanisms, forcing them to produce energy to feed cancer cells.
“In order for glioblastoma to respond better to treatment, we need to find a way to overcome drug resistance in cancer stem cells. By removing the gene OSMR, we were able to stop the production of energy in these cells, which amounts to leaving them to starve to death, ”explains Pre Jahani-Asl.
The results of this study suggest the possible conduct of clinical trials on targeting the gene OSMR in combination with radiotherapy for more effective treatment of glioblastoma. It is therefore the next step in the collimator of researchers.
The study
The article “OSMR controls glioma stem cell respiration and confers resistance of glioblastoma to ionizing radiation”, by Ahmad Sharanek, Audrey Burban, Matthew Laaper, Emilie Heckel, Jean-Sébastien Joyal, Vahab D. Soleimani and Arezu Jahani-Asl, was published in the journal Nature Communications. The study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and The Brain Tumor Charity.
DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17885-z
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