Growing Freely

High levels of a protein complex called fatty acid synthase (FASN) are a common feature of many cancers, but its role was unclear, until researchers working on breast cancer in mice suggested an explanation. Pictured is a slice through some mouse mammary tissue, with healthy mammary ducts (in blue) and areas rich in FASN (in dark red), where tumours grow. While FASN’s main function, making fat components known as fatty acids, is not critical here, it does play another role. Cancer cells have a unique ability to keep growing even when they have detached from surrounding tissues, but doing so produces many dangerous reactive chemicals containing oxygen or reactive oxygen species (ROS). Chemical reactions facilitated by FASN consume these ROS, supporting the unanchored growth of cancer cells, essential for initial tumour formation. As most tissues acquire enough fatty acids from diet alone, FASN could possibly be targeted by preventative treatments to inhibit early tumour development.

Written by Emmanuelle Briolat

Emmanuelle Briolat

Writer

A researcher specialising in visual signals in Lepidoptera, camouflage and the effects of light pollution, Emmanuelle’s writing covers a range of topics, from biomedical research to children’s books about moth defences.

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• Image from the CNIO
• Breast Cancer Clinical Research Unit, CNIO – Spanish National Cancer Research Center, Madrid, Spain
• Image copyright held by the original authors
• Research published in Nature Communications, November 2019