Scientists in the United Kingdom have developed a new imaging technique that allows them to see the inside of a single cancer cell in detail. Carried out in partnership with the companies Yokogawa, Sciex and the pharmaceutical company GSK, the research published in the journal Analytical Chemistry can help understand the responses of different types of cancer to specific treatments.
Understand:
- Scientists have developed a new imaging technique that allows them to analyze the inside of a single cancer cell;
- The method makes it possible to analyze lipids inside cells, helping to understand the responses of different types of cancer to specific treatments;
- The team used a newly released technology to harvest pancreatic cancer cells, and then administered a fluorescent dye to highlight the lipids inside them;
- With the new mass spectrometry method, researchers were able to break down these lipids and analyze their actual composition;
- The study shows that different cancer cells have different lipid profiles, which can be altered according to the environment in which they are found;
- Scientists are studying the benefits of the technique beyond cancer, in fields such as immunity and infectious diseases;
- The study was published in the journal Analytical Chemistry.
The researchers used the Single Cellome System SS2000, a technology recently launched by Yokogawa, to collect pancreatic cancer cells – which were applied with a fluorescent dye to highlight the lipids inside them. So, with Sciex, the team created a mass spectrometry method capable of breaking down these lipids and allowing analysis of their real composition.
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Scientists evaluate application of the technique beyond cancer cells
Analyzes have shown that different cancer cells can have very different lipid profiles, and they can be altered according to the environment in which they are found.
“Since lipids are so important to the functioning of cancer cells, studying lipid profiles will allow us to gain a better understanding of how cancer cells respond to different treatments (e.g. medications, radiation) and how they metastasize,” he said. Melanie Bailey, a chemical engineer at the University of Surrey and senior author of the study, told Gizmodo. “If a specific lipid pathway is implicated in radiation or drug resistance, for example, it may be possible to target it with future therapies.”
The team also highlights that the discovery can be applied beyond cancer, as lipids are as valuable for healthy cells as they are for cancerous ones. The researchers teamed up with other scientists to expand the fields of study of lipids within individual cells, such as immunity and infectious diseases.
