Fluorescent image of liver cells and chemical structure of glutamine. Credit: Kristina Schoonjans/EPFL
Scientists at EPFL have found a way to starve liver cancer cells by blocking a protein that is required for glutamine breakdown – while leaving normal cells intact. The discovery opens new ways to treat liver cancer. Primary liver cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with current treatments being very limited. Liver cancer cells are particularly addicted to the amino acid glutamine, which fuels their proliferation.
EPFL scientists have now found that a liver protein called “liver receptor homolog 1″ (LRH-1) is responsible for the digestion of glutamine into smaller molecules, which are avidly consumed by liver cancer cells...
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