Scientists can now see the inside of a single cancer cell

A new imaging technique now allows us to observe the inside of a tumor cell’s lipid load.

A team of researchers from the United Kingdom has discovered a new window into cancer, thanks to a new imaging technique that allows them to observe in detail the lipid load inside a single tumor cell.

Technology could make it easier to understand how different cancers respond to specific treatments, and pave the way for crucial discoveries about cancer.

The study, led by researchers at the University of Surrey, was presented in a paper published this week in Analytical Chemistry.

The team of researchers wanted to get a better view of the fat droplets, or lipids, that are found inside a cancer cell, due to their medical importance.

“The lipids are an essential component of cancer cellswhether they are necessary for their growth, proliferation and metastasis,” the study’s lead author explained to Gizmodo, Melanie Bailey.

“Lipids act as an energy source to tumor cells, but they also allow tumor cells to send signals to other cells and recruit them”, details the chemical engineer at the University of Surrey.

Bailey and his colleagues started by using a technology recently created by the Japanese company Yokogawa, called Single Cellome System SS2000to extract individual pancreatic cancer cells and intact samples.

These cells were stained with a fluorescent dye which highlighted the lipids within it.

Next, the researchers worked with Sciex, a Canadian company that produces mass spectrometryto develop a new mass spectrometry method that could open these lipidsallowing scientists to see its real composition.

Researchers have discovered that different cancer cells can have very different lipid profiles. They were also able to reliably see how these lipids changed in response to the environment in which they found themselves.

“Since lipids are so important to the functioning of cancer cells, studying lipid profiles will allow us to better understand how cancer cells respond to different treatments — medications, radiation — and how they metastasize,” said Bailey.

“If a particular lipid pathway is implicated in radiation or drug resistance, it may be possible to target this pathway with future therapies“, adds the researcher.

Lipids are so valuable for our healthy cells as well as tumor cells, so the new technology could prove to be useful not only in the fight against cancer, but also in other areas of medicine — including immunity, infectious diseases and the study of our body’s internal clocks.