A molecule blocks the growth of cancer cells. Its ability is to be able to inhibit cellular autophagy. It is the process by which the damaged components of proteins are reused for the construction of new protein molecules . And that’s how cancer cells, in many cases, are allowed to survive.
Molecule blocks the growth of cancer cells: the Italian discovery
This is what a study by the Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology of the National Research Council discovered (Cnr-Ibpm) of Rome, published in the journal Autophagy. “In tumors – explains Daniela Trisciuoglio, researcher of the Cnr-Ibpm and coordinator of the study – autophagy plays a dual role. Because he is able to promote the survival or death of cancer cells, depending on the type and stage of the tumor”.
“This small molecule, Sm15 – adds Trisciuoglio – prevents a specific step of autophagy. At the same time it blocks the mitosi, through which they are generated from a cell two daughter cells from the same chromosomal kit as the original one. This determines, for cancer cells, the impossibility of reproducing and regenerating, causing his death”.
The molecule blocks the later stage of the autophagic process
In particular, the study demonstrated that the molecule blocks the later stages of the autophagic process acting on the Snap29 protein, which drives the fusion between the material to be degraded and lysosomes, the organelles that break down proteins. “The activity of the Sm15 – explains Francesca Degrassi, researcher of the Cnr-Ibpm – prevents the degradation and recycling of deteriorated cellular materials, now toxic to the cell. During mitosis, or the process of cell division, the molecule enters the regions responsible for the movement of chromosomes, producing daughter cells strongly unbalanced in the number of chromosomes, which die in a short time”.
The importance of the dual function of the molecule
“This dual action of the Sm15 molecule will be able to have great relevance in preclinical research. Indeed, in tumor types that require functional autophagy to survive – such as glioblastoma and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas – this molecule – concludes Degrassi – may be an effective inhibitor of the process. Furthermore, it will allow the identification of new pharmacological treatments capable of inducing the destruction of tumor cells through two synergistic pathways, death in mitosis and the one determined by the inhibition of autophagy”.