Powerhouse Proteins Protect Heart Cells from Chemotherapy Damage
Published:16 Aug.2023 Source:University of Illinois Chicago
Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago have identified a process by which enzymes can help prevent heart damage in chemotherapy patients. The enzymes are normally found in a cell's mitochondria, the powerhouse that produces energy. But when heart cells are put under stress from certain types of chemotherapy drugs, the enzymes move into the cell's nucleus, where they are able to keep the cells alive.
First the team discovered that when the heart cells were stressed by chemotherapy, the mitochondrial enzymes moved into the cell's nucleus -- an unusual phenomenon. But they didn't know if that movement was the cause of the cell's damage or the means of its protection. To find out, the researchers generated versions of the enzymes that would specifically move into the nucleus and bypass the mitochondria. They discovered that this relocation fortified the cells, keeping them alive. They demonstrated that this process worked in both heart cells generated from human stem cells and in mice exposed to chemotherapy. The discovery suggests new clinical possibilities. Doctors could test individual patients to see if heart cells generated from personalized stem cells would adequately protect themselves from chemotherapy by moving their enzymes from their mitochondria into the cell's nucleus. Doctors could draw blood from the patient, make stem cells from the blood cells and then use those personalized stem cells to generate heart cells with the same genetic makeup as the patient's heart cells.
In patients with inadequate protection, one could then enhance the protection by increasing the enzyme movement and protection of the heart cells.The researchers are eager to do more studies looking at whether this method could help prevent heart damage from other conditions, such as high blood pressure and heart attacks, and whether it would work in other cells, such as those in blood vessels.