Link Between Metabolism And Brain Tumour

Metabolism could be playing a crucial role in brain tumor growth, it seems. Kynurenine, a by-product of the process, could be the culprit.  The metabolite could also be suppressing anti-tumor immune response.

 he discovery by an international team offers new therapeutic perspectives and gives hope for the treatment of gliomas, the most common and aggressive type of brain tumor in both adults and children. Gliomas progress rapidly and the median survival time of patients is less than a year. 

The research – by a team of researchers from Germany, USA, Switzerland and Australia, led by Professor Michael Platten from the Department of Neurooncology at the University Hospital of Heidelberg – was recently published in the prestigious journal Nature.

In the study, the international team – including University of New South Wales researcher Associate Professor Gilles Guillemin – identified the key role played by kynurenine.

The researchers were also able to identify the receptor expressed by tumor cells that kynurenine acts through – the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR).

While particularly relevant in the development and persistence of gliomas, the kynurenine pathway also has a role in other brain cancers, and is implicated in other neurodegenerative diseases. Associate Professor Guillemin said the breakthrough could potentially lead to viable therapeutics for a range of conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, motor neuron diseases, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.

“We are currently looking at all the molecules deriving from the tryptophan metabolism through the kynurenine pathway that can be linked to tumor persistence and immune suppression,” said Associate Professor Guillemin, who is head of the Neuroinflammation Group in UNSW’s School of Medical Sciences.

 source:- MedIndia