New BGU Cancer Research Breakthrough
May 30, 2024
Medical Research, Research News
Prof. Barak Rotblat from BGU’s Department of Life Sciences and NIBN
Ynetnews – Researchers at BGU have discovered the mechanism that allows cancer cells to survive despite lacking the glucose necessary for their existence. This discovery may pave the way for new treatments for various cancerous tumors in the future. The findings were recently published in the prestigious journal, Nature.
“Living organisms feed on sugar to survive,” explains Professor Barak Rotblat, one of the researchers and a lecturer from the Department of Life Sciences and the National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev (NIBN) at BGU.
“This is true for humans, as well as other animals, plants and even bacteria. When we have a lot of energy, we produce fat, and when we have little left, we burn it. This is a very basic mechanism of nature that developed very early in evolution so that living creatures can maintain a proper energy balance. When the sugar levels in a cell drop below the threshold that allows its proper existence, this condition is called ‘glucose starvation,'” continued Prof. Rotblat.
From this insight, a research group was formed in collaboration with Dr. Gabriel Leprivier from the University of Düsseldorf in Germany. The research team found that cancer cells enhance a common mechanism in mammals and even yeast, which allows them to overcome glucose starvation.
Prof. Rotblat notes the potential for developing a brain cancer treatment to Ynetnews, “Clinically, this could be a promising avenue for developing a cancer treatment. Together with BGN Technologies, the technology commercialization company of BGU, and with the support of the NIBN, we’re currently working on developing a molecule that targets the EBP4 protein as a future treatment for cancers to induce glucose starvation and elimination, especially brain cancer.”
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