The aim of the project led by the Department of Biomedical Sciences researchers is to determine which enzyme regulates polyphosphate, a molecule present in the nucleus of tumour cells, with the goal of identifying new therapeutic targets against cancer.
According to the principal investigators, Josep Clotet and Javier Jiménez, the presence of polyphosphate in human cells was discovered 20 years ago, although its exact function within our cells was not yet understood. Thanks to several consecutive competitive projects funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, the UIC Barcelona researchers have been working for the past 15 years to uncover the precise role it plays in the human body.
In the specific case of tumour cells, Dr Clotet notes that polyphosphate is located within the nucleus, whereas in other cells, this molecule is either absent or found elsewhere, a preliminary finding that will allow for further investigation. “We have been searching for years to see where tumour cells are vulnerable, to find something they have that other cells do not,” indicate the researchers.
Attacking only cancer cells
As Clotet and Jiménez recall, current chemotherapies “kill cancer cells in most cases, but also affect other rapidly dividing cells such as those in the hair or lining of the stomach.” As a result, “if we conclude that polyphosphate is indeed located in the nucleus of tumour cells and can demonstrate that this does not occur elsewhere, this will give us the perfect therapeutic target.”
Along these lines, the aim of the project is to pinpoint this enzyme as a drug target, making it possible to develop a medication against it in the future that does not harm other cells.
This aid brings the total number of Ministry-funded projects currently being carried out by the Department of Biomedical Sciences on polyphosphate to four; research conducted by the group at UIC Barcelona, along with Dr Marc Campayo, head of the Medical Oncology Service at the Terrassa Health Consortium (CST), a hospital affiliated with the University. “This long journey of basic research is the only way to achieve medical applicability in the long term,” emphasise the project leaders
*CLOTET/JIMENEZ: PID2024-158824NB-I00, funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the ESF+
