enter! Unlike normal cells (top right), the cancer cells in culture invite F16 to enter. Yellow indicates a strong negative charge.
A small molecule blowing power plants tumor cells but leaves normal cells unharmed may provide a model for new drugs against cancer. The molecule is drawn to the unique electrical properties of mitochondria energy production in tumor cells, and once ensconced, kick off a series of events leading to cell suicide.
Best known for his role as power generators cells, mitochondria also influence whether a cell lives or dies. When stressed, mitochondria rupture or leak, factors that activate enzymes that release dismantle the entire cell. This process is called apoptosis. A molecule that jumps-starts apoptosis in tumor cells - and only the cells - could be a useful drug against cancer
The researchers led by geneticist Valeria Fantin from Harvard Medical School in Boston screened more 16,000 small molecules. see if were taken selectively by the tumor cells. A molecule called F16 has passed the test. The reason, says Fantin is that F16 has a positive charge and is drawn into the mitochondria of cancer cells, the inner compartments are charged more negatively than in normal cells. More importantly, once in the mitochondria, F16 triggers apoptosis, the team of Fantin reports in the July 15 issue of Cancer Cell .
One potential drawback, noted molecular geneticist Andreas Strasser Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia, is that F16 can damage normal cells with high metabolic activity. In the absence of in vivo data critical to the safety of this compound, it can not be considered a promising cancer drug, he said. Even so, the study may renew interest in the therapeutic potential of this class of molecules (delocalized lipophilic cations), say Yardin Yosef, a molecular biologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, and Chausovsky Alexander, vice president of research Zetiq Technologies in Rehovot, Israel.
related sites
Councillor site of Fantin
Background on apoptosis and cancer chemotherapy
More on apoptosis
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