Break the Loop

Cancer cells’ frenzied activity is what makes them so deadly. Their relentless replication is a recipe for disaster, and requires lots of energy, which comes from increased digestion of glucose. Two proteins, Hipk and Myc, are involved in this elevated glucose processing, but their roles are unclear. Researchers first fed fruit flies a coloured glucose alternative, to show it was drawn up excessively by cells high in Hipk. Other coloured molecules binding to Myc revealed increased Myc levels in the same cells (pink in the wing section pictured). Myc produces enzymes that digest glucose, and when these enzymes were then blocked, tumour growth was halted and Myc levels also dropped. That showed Myc and the enzymes encourage each other’s activity, like two troublemakers riling each other up. This feedback loop sends glucose consumption into overdrive, helping the cancer thrive, and might be a fruitful area for new cancer treatments to target.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

Website

• Image from work by Kenneth Kin Lam Wong, Jenny Zhe Liao and Esther M Verheyen
• Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
• Image originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Research published in eLife, July 2019