Now in our 13th year of bringing you beautiful imagery from biomedical science every day

Search the archive of over 4000 images

Growing Growing Gone

Cells, including tumour cells, need oxygen to make vital amino acid aspartate; a clue to targeting cancers

02 September 2018

Growing Growing Gone

Sometimes, garden weeds spring up so too quickly for their own good, gobbling all the soil’s space and resources until they wipe themselves out. Something similar happens in cancerous tumours. In their rush to add new cells to the hyperactively dividing cluster, they devour all available oxygen, depriving inner areas of the tumour. These oxygen-low regions, green in the breast cancer pictured, grow more slowly and tend to resist treatment. To determine why, researchers examined how tumour samples from several patients behaved in low oxygen conditions. They discovered that one amino acid – aspartate – is the key. Cells need oxygen to make it, and without it all sorts of processes grind to a halt. When oxygen-starved tumours couldn’t make aspartate themselves, some were able to absorb it from the surroundings. Preventing tumours producing or acquiring aspartate might be a new way to tackle these tricky sections that evade current cancer treatments.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Search The Archive

Submit An Image

Follow on Tumblr

Follow on Instagram

What is BPoD?

BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

Read More

BPoD is also available in Catalan at www.bpod.cat with translations by the University of Valencia.