Can diabetes be treated with an anti-cancer drug?
© 2011 EPFL
A new group of anti-cancer drugs may also provide a treatment for metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, obesity or fatty-acid oxidation disorders. Two articles on the results obtained by an international team of scientists headed by John Auwerx have just been published in the journal Cell Metabolism.
Certain anti-cancer drugs, called Paribs, were hiding their light under a bushel. They will soon be on the market in the treatment of breast cancer thanks to their effect on the DNA repair of cancer cells. But researchers at EPFL’s Laboratory of Physiology of Integrated Systems, supported by scientists from the Universities of Debrecen (HUN), Strasbourg (FRA) and Weill-Cornell (USA) have discovered their effect on cell metabolism. This discovery makes it possible to envisage the use of this treatment for diseases such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, or other metabolism disorders. Similarly, it paves the way for a new range of drugs for the treatment of other types of cancer. The findings obtained by Johan Auwerx and his team are the subject of two articles published in the April edition of Cell Metabolism.
Cancer cells have the property of using glucose as an energy source instead of burning fatty acids. The scientists have noticed that Paribs enable their metabolism to be modified so that they begin to use them. This has the effect of weakening them and therefore stopping the progression of the cancer. The cells of patients suffering from type 2 diabetes, obesity or oxidation disorders share this characteristic of running on glucose. Health problems associated with the oxidation of fatty acids affect one newborn child in 3000. These troubles can result in muscular lesions, in particular of the heart, if the child does not follow a very strict and demanding diet all her life.
The role of Paribs is to modify the level of enzymes called PARP1. Mice which had these enzymes removed, genetically or by administering a drug, present biological signs of activation of a specific protein. As a result, the mitochondria responsible for transforming the molecules from food into energy for the cell function more efficiently. They use fatty acids instead of glucose and the protection against metabolic diseases is thereby increased. And there are other types of PARP enzymes whose quantity can potentially be modified. These findings therefore, open the way for new drugs that could be used to treat other forms of cancer and metabolic diseases. According to Johan Auwerx: “It is likely that, five years from now, treatments that target PARP will be part of the basic prophylaxic treatment for every type of cancer”.