Could brewer's yeast be a breakthrough in cancer treatment?

A study has found that analysis of brewer's yeast could lead to the development of new cancer treatments. Brewer's yeast is a type of fungus used in beer brewing. The fission yeast (S. pombe) used in the study is similar to human cells, allowing for understanding of fundamental cellular processes in both normal and cancer cells.

 

A joint research team from the University of Virginia School of Medicine and EMBL in Germany analyzed fission yeast cells using single-particle cryo-electron microscopy and cryo-electron tomography. The analysis revealed that mitochondria are wrapped in ribosomes when yeast cells enter a dormant state.

 

Mitochondria are the organelles that generate energy for cells' vital functions, while ribosomes are responsible for protein synthesis. The analysis suggests that ribosomes protect mitochondria and participate in mitochondrial signaling, regulating cell dormancy and awakening.

“When cells are put in difficult situations, such as when they are starved for nutrients, they go into a dormant state to survive,” said Dr. Ahmad Joma, who led the study. “If this dormant state continues for a long time, the cells eventually begin to digest themselves and break down, so mitochondria regulate their energy so that they can properly wake up from this dormant state.”

 

 

Cancer cells, too, enter a dormant state in environments unsuitable for proliferation until a more suitable environment is created. Once these conditions are met, they resume proliferation or metastasize. Therefore, the analysis suggests that the interaction between mitochondria and ribosomes could unlock the secrets of how cancer cells enter dormancy and reawaken.

 

“Cancer cells often enter a dormant state to avoid detection by the immune system,” said Dr. Makie Gluck, who participated in the study. “If we understand the dormant process of cancer cells, we can discover new markers for the immune system to track dormant cancer cells.”

 

In the future, the research team plans to conduct further research by analyzing yeast and cultured cancer cells to better understand cancer and find innovative treatment methods.

 

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I see a lot of beer yeast in shampoos and nutritional supplements these days.

Treatment methods and the effectiveness of cancer treatment

I hope it comes out

 

There are many types of cancer, so many treatment methods are being developed.