Cancer cells are known for their ability to grow quickly and survive in harsh conditions that would kill normal cells. To do this, they rely heavily on nutrients that fuel their rapid growth.
One of the most important of these nutrients is glutamine, a building block used to make proteins and DNA.
Many tumors become so dependent on glutamine that scientists often describe them as being “addicted” to it. If glutamine is removed, these cancer cells usually stop growing. However, some tumors find ways to survive even without it, making treatment more difficult.
A new study from researchers at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland has uncovered a surprising weakness in this survival strategy. The team discovered that cancer cells lose their ability to adapt when they are deprived of vitamin B7, also known as biotin.
Their findings were published in the scientific journal Molecular Cell. The research helps explain how some cancer cells continue to grow despite a lack of glutamine and suggests new possibilities for treatment.
The scientists focused on how cells use other nutrients when glutamine is not available. They found that some cells switch to using carbon-rich molecules such as pyruvate, which comes from the breakdown of sugar. Pyruvate can enter the cell’s energy system and support growth even without glutamine.
This process depends on an enzyme inside mitochondria, the structures that produce energy in cells. The enzyme, called pyruvate carboxylase, allows cells to convert pyruvate into useful materials needed for growth and division.
However, pyruvate carboxylase cannot function without vitamin B7. Biotin acts like a helper that activates the enzyme. When biotin is missing, the enzyme becomes inactive, and cells can no longer use pyruvate as a backup fuel.
As a result, the cancer cells lose their ability to keep growing when glutamine is scarce. The researchers described biotin as a kind of “metabolic permission” that allows this alternative pathway to operate.
The study also revealed an important role for a gene called FBXW7, which is often altered in cancers. When this gene is mutated, the amount of pyruvate carboxylase in the cell decreases. This makes it harder for the cell to use pyruvate and forces it to rely even more on glutamine.
In other words, tumors with certain FBXW7 mutations become especially vulnerable when glutamine is limited. The researchers showed that some mutations found in patients directly cause this dependence.
These discoveries help explain why some treatments aimed at blocking glutamine use have not always worked as expected. Cancer cells can activate alternative pathways to survive, using other nutrients when one source is cut off.
Understanding these backup systems may allow scientists to design therapies that block multiple pathways at once, making it harder for tumors to adapt.
In reviewing the findings, the study provides valuable insight into the flexibility of cancer metabolism and identifies vitamin B7 as a potential point of weakness. The research is significant because it shows that even small nutrients can play a major role in cancer survival.
However, the work was mainly done in laboratory models, so more studies are needed to confirm how these mechanisms operate in patients. Future research will also need to determine whether targeting biotin-related pathways is safe for normal cells, which also rely on this vitamin.
Overall, the study highlights how cancer cells depend on complex networks of nutrients and enzymes to survive. By uncovering these hidden dependencies, scientists move closer to developing treatments that cut off the fuel supply tumors need to grow.
This research offers hope that a better understanding of cancer metabolism could lead to more effective and personalized therapies in the future.
If you care about cancer, please read studies that a low-carb diet could increase overall cancer risk, and berry that can prevent cancer, diabetes, and obesity.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how drinking milk affects the risks of heart disease and cancer and results showing vitamin D supplements could strongly reduce cancer death.
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