In a Bind

Multiple myeloma is a blood cancer affecting plasma cells, white blood cells that produce antibodies, causing them to multiply abnormally in the bone marrow. Right now, only half of patients can expect to survive five years after diagnosis, so better treatments are sorely needed. Promising targets include fatty acid-binding proteins (FABPs), a multi-functional family of proteins that can pick up lipids, involved in a variety of processes. A recent study found that cultured myeloma cells (pictured, their nuclei in blue) expressed high levels of one member in particular, FABP5 (in red); blocking it reduced cell proliferation, while patients with higher FABP5 levels tended to experience worse outcomes. Inhibiting FABPs more broadly appeared even more effective, improving survival in some mice with myeloma. To build on these results, further research needs to investigate why not all mice responded so well, and whether inhibiting FABPs would be safe and effective in humans.

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.

Website

• Image from work by Mariah Farrell and colleagues
• Center for Molecular Medicine, Maine Health Institute for Research, Scarborough, ME, USA
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in eLife, March 2023