A potential method to detect cancer and the discovery of a new cell – Medical News of May 13, 2024

A potential method to detect cancer and the discovery of a new cell – Medical News of May 13, 2024

by | May 13, 2024 | Medicine, Personal

Before we start, a quick announcement; I have a podcast! If you’d like to listen to these stories and more, including The Vitals, where I tell you what you need to know about topics of your choice, tune into The Vitals Podcast on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast! Sources to each story are below!

Counting atomic ratios in yeast and mouse cells to study cancer clues

Our first story comes from researchers Ashley Maloney and Sebastian Kopf and their joint research team made up of scientists at Colorado University and Princeton University, where tools often used in geology may be able to detect cancer on the atomic level. 

To understand how this tool works, we need to know a little bit of chemistry; geochemist Maloney at Colorado University explains that hydrogen comes in two main isotopes, or flavors. Firstly, you have normal hydrogen, the hydrogen that bonds with Oxygen to make good ole H2O, and the lighter one of the two. Secondly, there’s deuterium, which is heavier, and is outnumbered by normal hydrogen on Earth by a ratio of about 6,420 to 1.

While hydrogen has only 1 proton and 1 electron, deuterium adds a neutron. Geologists have used this difference to analyze anything from the origin and flow of bodies of water to the temperature of the Earth when a sheet of ice in the Arctic was formed.

Ok, so what’s the big deal? Well, in the research, Maloney and her colleagues grew cultures of yeast and cultures of mouse liver cells. The idea is that cancerous cells use a process called fermentation (like some yeast cells or cancerous mouse liver cells) while normal cells mainly use respiration (like other yeast cells and healthy mouse liver cells). The fatty acids that both processes produce, Maloney’s team suspects, could have different ratios of deuterium to hydrogen, which could help differentiate two different processes, and by extension, differentiate a cancer cell from a healthy cell.

As a brief refresher from biology class, normal cells in our bodies use cellular respiration to make energy, in which it takes in sugar (mainly glucose) and oxygen, and spits out carbon dioxide and water, along with some juicy ATP, which your cells use for energy. Glycolysis, the first stage, takes the glucose and essentially breaks it in half, creating pyruvates and NADH (stuff for the rest of cellular respiration), and two pieces of that sweet, sweet ATP. This process is anaerobic, which means it does not require oxygen, but that oxygen is used in later stages of cellular respiration. This is important.

Cancer cells (and fast replicating cells), on the other hand, do a LOT of glycolysis, and then a LOT of a process called lactic acid fermentation. This process is also anaerobic, so as you can guess, it is common when there isn’t much oxygen to go around, like in your muscles cells during an intense workout. Cancer cells, however, are known to ferment sugar even when there is oxygen; this is called overflow metabolism. Lactic acid fermentation results in a lot of (shocker) lactic acid, and when it builds up in your muscle cells as waste, it creates that burning sensation. Unfortunately, lactic acids also weaken the parts of your immune system responsible for attacking cancerous cells, which makes this ‘waste’ a lot more valuable to the cancer’s survival. 

Microscopic picture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells, (Credit: CC image via Wikimedia Commons)
Microscopic picture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells (Credit: CC image via Wikimedia Commons)

In the study, the team of researchers found that respiring yeast cells had a higher ratio of deuterium to hydrogen atoms than fermenting yeast cells, even in the presence of oxygen (much like blood-supplied cancer cells). The researchers also tested this with healthy, respiring mouse hepatocytes (or liver cells) and fermenting cells within a hepatocellular carcinoma, or a liver tumor; this produced similar results. 

Now while this is amazing, we don’t yet have a way to detect ratios of deuterium to hydrogen in actual live patients, but the potential is hopeful. Kopf points out that “If this isotopic signal is strong enough that you could detect it through something like a blood test, that could give you an important hint that something is off.” Detecting cancer early is invaluable to treating the disease, and thanks to Maloney, Kopf, and their team we may have a new, amazing tool in the near future to do just that.

Large enrichments in fatty acid 2H/1H ratios distinguish respiration from aerobic fermentation in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae | PNAS <– (Original Study Paper)

Geologists, biologists unearth the atomic fingerprints of cancer | ScienceDaily

Geologists, biologists unearth the atomic fingerprints of cancer | CU Boulder Today | University of Colorado Boulder

Discovering a new “Leader Cell” by studying the process of liver regeneration

Our second story comes from Dr. Neil Henderson and his team at University of Edinburgh in Scotland, where the discovery of a new repair-cell in your liver could mean more regenerative therapies on the way. 

The liver has the remarkable ability to regenerate itself. Second to only the intestines, the liver is the most regenerative organ in the body. So regenerative, in fact, that, depending on many factors, the liver can be up to 70% damaged, and within months, fully grow back (even if it may not be at full capacity). Despite this, if damage is too extensive and exceeds the abilities to regenerate (like in Acute Liver Failure, or ALF), a patient’s only option may be to have a liver transplant. However, this may change.

Healthy hepatocyte culture (Credit: CC image via Wikimedia Commons)

Dr. Henderson and his team at the Centre for Inflammation Research wanted to study how the liver regenerates naturally to potentially innovate a new curative therapy as an alternative to liver transplant. Firstly, they took human liver samples from healthy patients, patients with chronic liver disease stemming from a range of causes, and patients with ALF stemming from either Hepatitis X (not to be confused with Hepatitis A, B, C, D, or E) or APAP toxicity (overdosing on acetaminophen, more commonly known as Tylenol). They then observed the growth of hepatocytes (liver cells) in the damaged area; ALF-afflicted liver samples had more active hepatocytes than the others, prompting the researchers to focus on these samples. 

Upon observation, there was a problem; while the liver did heal some of its damage by replicating cells (what’s called “cell proliferation”), it did not fully heal. To take a closer look, they sequenced genes of the liver cells, creating a pan-lineage atlas of liver cells during human regeneration. Basically, they kept track of the activity of many types of liver cells while the regeneration process took place. This is when they found a unique gene protein, ANXA2+, belonging to the new cell. 

They then found this same gene expressed in a similar cell in mice and studied its functions. This cell, dubbed the “leader cell,” seemed to come out to rapidly close the wound before cell replication could repair the damage. This suggests that these leader cells prioritized preventing infection from an open wound in the liver before regrowing the liver. 
This discovery paves the road for new innovative therapies as an alternative to liver transplants, utilizing these novel leader cells to regenerate a liver beyond the superpowers our body already possesses. Thanks to Dr. Henderson and his team, hope is on the horizon.

Multimodal decoding of human liver regeneration | Nature <– (Original Study Paper)

Liver study pinpoints cell that helps healing process | The University of Edinburgh

Scientists discover new type of cell in the liver | Live Science

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Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Galatians 6:9 NIV
The Best Are Human (My Essay)

The Best Are Human (My Essay)

by | Sep 29, 2023 | Personal

The following is an essay I wrote for English class in response to a prompt that read something along the lines of, “Write a personal narrative of an experience in your life, show what you learned, and show how you have grown.” If you’re looking for essays to read, this is a good example. Enjoy!

“…Chauncey Taylor!” the pastor called, prompting me to walk up the aisle and shake the imposing man’s hand. The primary donor, a motherly woman sitting in the front row, smiled and clapped with the congregation as I stepped onto the altar. It all felt so surreal; the pastor introduced me and my situation, but I had never had so much attention and weight on my shoulders as I did that day on the altar.. 

“…put your hands together for brother Chauncey!” the pastor concluded. A few brief seconds of applause erupted through the sanctuary as the microphone fell to my hand. I realized it was now my turn, and as I brought the microphone to my mouth, the sanctuary instantly fell silent. How did I get here?

***

Two months prior, an email from my mother stood out in my inbox; she rarely uses her email, so it piqued my curiosity. Clicking it, I saw that she had replied to an email sent two years ago; I had just become eligible for a brotherhood I took an interest in, and my mother resurfaced the email. A few more replies later, I am suddenly tasked with writing an essay and recording a short introduction video around the same time sophomores shift their focus to final exams for the year. 

At first, I found this extremely inconvenient, but after looking over the email thread once more, my mother had emailed back and forth with the brotherhood about a Harvard Medical School summer program. The buzzword caught my eye and convinced me to throw my hat in. I stressed myself out and stretched myself thin between school, my obligations as a big brother, and these new responsibilities. My mental health was not perfect, to begin with; this new burden made it worse, and it showed in school and at home. Nonetheless, I pressed forward. One heartwarming essay, an extensively rehearsed video, and a congratulatory email later, and I am inducted as a scholar at Greeks United International.

A representative from GUI reached out to me a month later regarding the Harvard program. My heart fluttered reading the title, only to sink as the email told me I had less than a week to fulfill the requirements, from health insurance to two more short essays. The ensuing days were, yet again, a mixture of a healthy dose of chaos, plenty of stress, and juggling priorities, but I could already see the grand, marble Harvard Medical School sign in my future. It would all be worth it.

Woman in white shirt showing frustration
It is important not to sacrifice your mental health for your work.

After practically hounding my guidance counselor to finish their recommendation and throwing together my high school transcript, I submitted my application and held my breath for the next week.

They accepted me! What’s more, a friend, a part of my church’s leadership, offered to pay for most of the acceptance fee on the church’s behalf! It would, however, come at a cost; the grant did not cover food and lodging. 

Fortunately, the representative from GUI invited me to speak to the congregation as a general introduction to how I operate academically and what I see in my future. They gave me a month’s notice to prepare for the most important and influential five minutes of my adolescent life.

Within the first two days of this notice, I had a speech written and revised. I forwarded it to my parents, friends, teachers, and anyone else I knew. I even let ChatGPT give its input. For the following three weeks, I balanced studying for finals and rehearsing for the thrilling yet foreboding oratory, the date slowly creeping closer day by day. Two weeks turned into one week, which shortened to a few days. One morning, I woke up and realized that the presentation I had prepared was only a day away. 

Inevitably, that Sunday morning came around. The morning replays in my head all the time; I woke up early, exhausted and slightly burnt out. I prepared for the day and dressed in a formal polo shirt with khakis; I took far too much time pondering this simple appearance, only to forget to iron the pants I settled on. It only added to the tension, but now wasn’t the time to fill my head with thoughts of dread. One moment, I twiddled my thumbs, mumbling my speech to myself on the car ride to church. The next moment, I stood alone on the altar with a microphone in my hand and all eyes on me.

And so, I started.

A man public speeaking
Sometimes, public speaking works best when you feed off the audience.

I introduced myself, I recited Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it,” and I repeated a common slogan in our church, “Know who we are in Christ, Embrace who we are in Christ, and Walk Out who Christ says we are.” This simple start helped lead me into the rest of my speech, and strangely, miraculously, the words began to flow, to come to me. Much of what I said came from my script, but I ventured off the beaten path just a little to pick a few special roses for my audience, roses I could have never bought at any bouquet shop. I found comfort on the altar as I paced back and forth across it. I cracked a joke, and the audience laughed; I made a great point, and they filled the sanctuary with applause. Any anxiety I had, any doubts or worries that lingered in my mind seemed to melt away; my confidence came from the congregation, and I finished before I knew it.

In hindsight, I realized how stressed I was beforehand and how much I stumbled over myself, yet I still gave the speech. I still found the words, I still summoned the courage to speak despite my shortcomings, and I never would have thought the worries and doubts that were so human could be behind something so spectacular. Countless times, I find myself pulling my abilities thin, often sacrificing my health to “get the job done.” I constantly push myself to make sure what I produce is purposeful and substantial; most of the time, my ambition can be beneficial, and it helps me strive for greatness. Other times, however, my blind ambition can often drive me to chase perfection, some unrealistic goal, the golden fruit far too high to reach.

This experience helped me learn that I’m human and that it’s okay to tend to my emotions and health. I learned that stretching myself thin does no good for anyone; had I properly managed my mental health and avoided burnout, my speech may have been ten times better. Since this milestone in my life, I have kept myself from sacrificing my health for results, and I feel that it has helped me in more ways than one. 

“Thank you,” I crescendoed. “Again, I’m Chauncey Taylor! Remember that name!” The standing ovation echoed in my ears. I spotted my dad recording, smiling with pride beside my little sister. A week later, I learned I had raised over $3,000 for my trip to Harvard Medical School. This speech still stands as my most significant accomplishment to this day, but most importantly, I learned that it’s better to leave the roboting to the robots.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV