Xingda University Researchers Develop New Cancer Treatment Targeting Mitochondrial Metabolism

There is a new treatment for cancer. Hong Huizhi, a distinguished professor of the Department of Life Sciences of Xingda University, took acute myeloid leukemia as the target, started from the research on inhibiting cancer cell metabolism, and found the key molecule “mitochondrial NAD(P)-dependent apple” that effectively slows down cancer cell metabolism. acidase (Malic enzyme 2, ME2)”, and developed a small molecule drug, which has a significant effect on inhibiting ME2 through cell experiments and animal experiments, providing a new way for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.

Hong Huizhi, Distinguished Professor of the Department of Life Sciences of Xingda University, said that cancer is not just a genetic disease, and treating cancer as a treatment for metabolic diseases will bring more hope to overcome the current treatment bottleneck. Acute myelogenous leukemia is a fast-growing and deadly blood cancer. Its characteristic is that cancer cells grow very fast. During the growth process, they need a lot of energy. If you can inhibit the excess energy produced by cancer cells, you can slow down the growth of cancer cells , or even let it be in a state of energy deficiency, it can cause cancer cell death.

Hong Huizhi pointed out that the metabolism of cancer cells mainly comes from the mitochondria of the cells. The research team found that ME2 enzyme is a key molecule that affects mitochondria to regulate mitochondrial energy metabolism and oxidative stress. The depletion of ME2 will reduce mitochondrial metabolism, including pyruvate. Metabolism, cellular respiration and oxidative phosphorylation. The team also developed small-molecule drugs. In experiments on immunodeficiency mice, small-molecule drugs can significantly inhibit ME2 enzymes and exhibit anti-leukemia activity, confirming that ME2 can be used as a target for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.

Hong Huizhi devoted himself to the research of mitochondrial metabolism. From September 2018 to January 2019, under the subsidy of the Ministry of Science and Technology’s International Value-Added Program and the Ministry of Education’s Higher Education Deep Cultivation Program, he went to Washington University School of Medicine in the United States to study mitochondria and metabolism. Research Center (Mitochondria and Metabolism Center, University of Washington), engaged in visiting scholar research, brought mitochondrial metabolism research technology back to Taiwan, and applied it to acute myeloid leukemia research. Afterwards, from July to August 2019, he went to the Institute of Biochemistry of Academia Sinica again as a visiting scholar to further analyze the structure of the molecular complex of small molecule drugs and ME2 enzymes that can inhibit acute myeloid leukemia, and provide evidence of structural biology .

The research results were recently published in the well-known international journals “Cellular Oncology” and “Communications Biology”. The research team is cooperating with the National Institutes of Health to optimize small molecule drugs, hoping to improve drug efficacy and reduce costs. Combined with the original chemotherapy, it is expected to open up a new treatment approach for acute leukemia. (Reported by Kou Shijing)