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A Korean research team has discovered a protein in the body that promotes the proliferation, growth and survival of cancer cells.
A research group led by Professor Joon-Young Seo of the School of Biomedical Sciences of the Yonsei University College of Medicine announced on the 18th that they had identified the cancer metabolism control function and the mechanism of action of a protein called “biperine” expressed by interferon, which is known to regulate anticancer immunity.
Unlike normal cells, cancer cells have the characteristic of modifying their metabolism so that they can proliferate, grow, metastasize and survive even in adverse conditions such as lack of nutrients and limited oxygen. Until now, it was known that cancer metabolism is regulated through a biological pathway called “PI3K/AKT”.
Recently, the interferon-activated “JAK/STAT” pathway, known as a pleiotropic cytokine that elicits an anticancer immune response, was also found to be involved in the regulation of cancer metabolism, but a clear mechanism of action has not been found. identified.
Therefore, the research team analyzed the cancer metabolism control function and action mechanism of biperine among the interferon-induced proteins. As a result of analyzing tumor tissues such as stomach cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer and brain cancer, the expression of biperine was high, and the higher the expression level, the more low was the survival rate of cancer patients.
The research team also created and tested a tumor cell line that regulates biperine expression. As a result, the expression of biperine was induced not only by interferon, but also by lack of oxygen and nutrients, and by promoting energy metabolism and fatty acid synthesis in the tumor cells, the tumor cells were able to proliferate and survive.
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| image description) Under normal conditions where nutrients and oxygen are supplied smoothly, biperine is expressed at a low level by cancer stem cell factor HIF-1, allowing cancer stem cells to maintain their characteristics and survive through metabolic regulation (above). ) /
Under microenvironmental conditions of cancer such as interferon secretion, nutrient and oxygen deprivation, biperine is expressed at high levels in cancer stem cells through various mechanisms and, by activating metabolic regulation, exhibits characteristics such as self-renewal and differentiation of cancer stem cells into cancer Promotes cancer proliferation and growth by activating metabolism by strengthening and expressing it in surrounding cancer cells (Figure below) |
The results of this study were published in the latest issue of the International Journal of Clinical Investigation (IF 19.477).
