A new study by scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has found how cancer cells use an unusual multiplication process. The study, which answers a long mystery about the growing unhealthy cells in the human body, will Molecular cell journal.
The study was conducted by MIT biologists Matthew Vander Heiden, senior author of the new study, and the lead authors, former MIT graduate student and postdoctoral fellow Alba Luengo (PhD ’18) and graduate student, Zhaoqi Li. Their research has shown that metabolic process, known as fermentation, helps cancer cells to regenerate large amounts of a molecule called NAD +, which they need to synthesize DNA and other important molecules. According to MIT News, Heiden said that according to their study, cells need to do more of the electron transfer reactions under certain conditions, which require NAD + to make molecules like DNA.
Fermentation is one way in which cells can convert the energy contained in sugar into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is a chemical used by cells to store energy for their needs. Humans use a process called aerobic breathing where cells break down the sugar to get more ATP. However, cells switch to a less efficient method called fermentation, when there are oxygen deficiencies in cells.
The German chemist Otto Warburg discovered that it is usually the cancer cells that metabolize sugar through the process of fermentation. Scientists have since proposed various theories to justify why cancer cells move to a slower way to break down cells, but with little success.
To understand this reason, MIT scientists have prevented the ability of cancer cells to carry out the fermentation process. With this, they note that the growth of cancer cells is hindered. Thereafter, the researchers introduced another method of cell growth by stimulating the cells to produce NAD +, a molecule that helps cells dispose of the extra electrons released when cells make molecules such as DNA and proteins.
With this experiment, researchers found that the cells began to multiply again, despite their inability to perform fermentation. The results of this study have led researchers to conclude that when they grow fast, NAD + requires more than they need ATP. And since cells in aerobic respiration produce a lot of ATP and some NAD +, they move on to fermentation. Scientists have found that if cells accumulate more ATP than they can consume, their respiration decreases and the production of NAD + also decreases.