A team in the UK has found a new window into cancer research thanks to a novel imaging technique that allows them to take a detailed look at the fatty cargo inside a single tumor cell. The technology could also make it easier to understand how different types of cancer respond to certain treatments, among many other insights.
The research was led by scientists from the University of Surrey and involved other scientists from the University of College London and the pharmaceutical company GSK (formerly known as GlaxoSmithKline), as well as the companies Yokogawa and Sciex. Because of their medical importance, the team wanted to get a better look at the fat droplets, or lipids, that reside inside a cancer cell.
“Lipids are an essential component of cancer cells and are required for their growth, proliferation and metastasis,” said lead author Melanie Bailey, a chemical engineer at the University of Surrey, in an email to Gizmodo. “They act as an energy source for tumor cells, but also enable tumor cells to pass on signals to other cells and recruit them.”
Bailey and her colleagues initially used Yokogawa’s recently developed technology (the Single cell system SS2000) to extract intact, individual pancreatic cancer cells from a sample. These cells were stained with a fluorescent dye that highlighted the lipids inside. They then worked with Sciex, a mass spectrometer manufacturer, to develop a new mass spectrometry method that could break down these lipids so that scientists could see their actual composition.
The researchers found that different cancer cells can have very different lipid profiles. They were also able to reliably see how these lipids changed in response to their environment. The work, published Study published this week in the journal Analytical Chemistry could pave the way for crucial discoveries about cancer.
“Because lipids are so important to cancer cell function, studying lipid profiles allows us to better understand how cancer cells respond to different treatments (e.g., drugs, radiation) and how they metastasize,” Bailey said. “For example, if a particular lipid pathway is involved in radiation or drug resistance, it might be possible to specifically target that pathway with future therapies.”
The new technology could be helpful beyond cancer, especially since lipids are just as valuable to our healthy cells as they are to tumor cells. Bailey says her team is already working with other researchers to study lipids in individual cells in a variety of areas, including immunity, infectious diseases and studying our internal body clocks.
“From a technology development perspective, we are excited to see how far we can push the boundaries and how much information we can glean from subcellular features,” she said.