Cellular process discovery may lead to new cancer treatments
· News-Medical"Scientists long believed this process was absolutely essential for all living cells," Schmidt said. "However, we have discovered a previously unknown system in mammalian cells that can take over when the main systems fail."
This discovery was made in three stages over a nine-year period. The first "aha moment," Schmidt said, came in 2014, when a colony of mice survived when they, based on the science at the time, should not have been able to. This is because they had no known system to convert cystine into cysteine.
"This was supposed to be impossible," he said. "No living organism or cell had ever been found that could live without having a functioning disulfide reductase system."
Notably, this backup system might also help some cancer cells survive exposure to chemotherapies, radiation therapies or immune therapies.
"This same pathway that protects our cells from oxidants or toxins also likely protects cancer cells from therapies," Schmidt said. "Now that we know they have this defense mechanism, we might be able to precisely disable it in cancers, making them more susceptible to cancer therapies, as well."
Several MSU students, some of whom have since graduated, coauthored the paper, including co-first authors Zoe Seaford and Sydney Austad, who did their work as undergraduate students in Schmidt's lab. Martina Serrano Alvarez and Reed Noyd were also undergraduate students in the lab when they participated in the project, and Colin Miller was a doctoral student. Other scientists and trainees from various institutions also collaborated on portions of the research presented in the paper.
"This scientific breakthrough underscores the power of research to redefine what we thought was possible and advance new approaches to cancer treatment," said Sreekala Bajwa, dean of the agricultural college. "I congratulate Dr. Schmidt and his team for their exceptional achievement and for engaging students as true partners in research that delivers global impact."
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