{"id":28678,"date":"2023-02-28T09:00:41","date_gmt":"2023-02-28T09:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/?p=25335"},"modified":"2024-11-03T15:12:51","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T15:12:51","slug":"can-cancer-cells-communicate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/can-cancer-cells-communicate\/","title":{"rendered":"Can cancer cells communicate?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"ABreast cancer cells might use bioelectric signals to influence their behaviour.<\/p>\n

” data-medium-file=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/breast-cancer-cell-NIH-300×168.jpg” data-large-file=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/breast-cancer-cell-NIH.jpg”><\/p>\n

Breast cancer cells might use bioelectric signals to influence their behaviour. NIH \/ CC BY-NC 2.0<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

You\u2019re electric.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Not in a charge-via-USB, keep-away-from-water kind of way \u2013 but electric all the same. We all are. Electricity is a big part of how our bodies work. Our cells need to keep certain chemicals inside and push others out, which gives each one a voltage, like a tiny battery. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

That gives our cells the power to do some incredible things. The ones in our hearts, brains and nervous systems use bioelectricity on their outer layers \u2013 in precise patterns of blinks, waves and buzzes \u2013 to flash signals and messages through the body. We think and feel in lightning storms \u2013 which makes sense, because thoughts and feelings come like lightning storms sometimes. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Dr Amanda Foust<\/span><\/a>, a neuroscientist and engineer at Imperial College London, is one of the few people who knows how to catch that lightning. She thought she knew the types of cell it struck, too.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Then she got an unusual tip-off. On the advice of a colleague, she turned her cellular storm-chaser\u2019s kit to look at the voltage, or electrical potential, on the outer layer (membrane) of breast cancer cells. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw that it was fluctuating, which completely blew me away. I never expected that in cells that weren\u2019t in the heart or the brain or other muscles.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s because healthy cells in the rest of the body have a static membrane voltage. But this new study, which was led by Foust and <\/span>Dr Chris Bakal<\/span><\/a> from the Institute of Cancer Research, shows that breast cancer cells can change their voltage in predictable patterns. And that raises some very big questions.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

How cancer cells use electricity<\/span> <\/span><\/h2>\n

Right now, we don\u2019t know what the patterns mean, but it looks like they\u2019re happening for a reason. The team found that cancer cells were more likely to blink together than alone. At times, they even spotted \u201cwaves of flux\u201d passing between them. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne cell would blink, then another cell nearby would blink, then another, and so on and so forth,\u201d says Bakal, one of our funded cancer researchers. \u201cThat really is a huge sign to me \u2013 it\u2019s not proof, but it\u2019s a huge sign that these cells are communicating with each other.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, Bakal thinks cancer cells could be using electrical signals as a type of language. And he doesn\u2019t find that as shocking as you might expect. In his other research, he\u2019s seen cancer cells <\/span>change their size and shape<\/span><\/a> to look more like brain cells. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Foust doesn\u2019t want to go quite so far yet. She and Bakal have a friendly disagreement about what exactly their findings mean.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI tend to hesitate about calling it a language,\u201d Foust says. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of unanswered questions. Are these electrical fluctuations just the hum that the engine makes, or do they play a role in something that cancer does that makes it so bad?\u201d <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Either way, it\u2019s significant. The noise an engine makes tells a good mechanic a lot about what it\u2019s doing. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

And we already know that electrical activity is linked to one of the central problems of cancer: its ability to spread through the body, or metastasise. That discovery was made by Imperial\u2019s Professor Mustafa Djamgoz, the colleague and co-author who suggested Foust take a closer look at cancer cells.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Bioelectricity and cancer metastasis<\/span> <\/span><\/h2>\n

In 1995, Djamgoz showed that prostate cancer cells could alter their baseline voltage to open specific channels in their membranes. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

These \u2018voltage-gated\u2019 channels aren\u2019t normally found outside of the nervous system or muscles. They control how electrically charged particles called ions move in and out of cells, making them more \u2018electrically excitable\u2019 and changing how they behave.<\/span><\/p>\n

By opening and closing ion channels, cancer cells can change how they behave.<\/p>\n

” data-medium-file=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Ion-channels-render.jpg” data-large-file=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Ion-channels-render.jpg” decoding=”async” class=”wp-image-25372 size-thumbnail” src=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Ion-channels-render-150×150.jpg” alt=”A computer-generated image of ion channels on the surface of a cell.” width=”150″ height=”150″ srcset=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Ion-channels-render.jpg 150w, https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Ion-channels-render-96×96.jpg 96w” sizes=”(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px”><\/p>\n

By opening and closing ion channels, cancer cells can change how they behave. \u00a9TaePY15MU \/Shutterstock.com <\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Djamgoz focused on one channel in particular: a sodium channel. Cancer cells open it to let in ions that make them more likely to metastasise. This ability to spread and form secondary tumours in other organs is the main cause of death from cancer. Closing the voltage-gated sodium channel on cancer cells could be a way to stop it happening. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Djamgoz and others are now trying to develop therapies to close that channel. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Early-stage research in animal models suggests it could be an effective treatment. In the US, researchers led by <\/span>Professor Michael Levin, a bioelectricity expert at Tufts University<\/span><\/a>, have reversed the development of tumours in some tadpoles by manipulating ion channels.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s other work highlighting the importance of ion channels, too. Last year, scientists at our Cambridge Institute <\/span>revolutionised our understanding of metastasis<\/span><\/a> by identifying a gene that controls one. When that gene, called NALCN, is \u2018turned off\u2019 in cells, they\u2019re much more likely to spread through the body \u2013 whether they\u2019re healthy or cancerous.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Even if they aren\u2019t a language in themselves, Foust thinks the fast voltage fluctuations she and Bakal have found could be relevant here. They might be ways to modify other electrically sensitive signals in the cells, including certain ion channels.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Electric healing<\/span><\/h3>\n

Cancer is a disease of cell growth, and bioelectricity seems to play a big part in how bodies grow and heal. Maybe their connection shouldn\u2019t be too much of a surprise. <\/span><\/p>\n

Then again, <\/span>almost everything scientists are discovering about bioelectricity<\/span><\/a> is surprising<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

One of the first things they found, back in the 1970s, was that injured skin cells generate an electric field. This \u2018wound current\u2019 attracts other cells that specialise in repairing damage. <\/span><\/p>\n

From there, things get weird. It\u2019s one thing to guide cells through the body, but it seems that bioelectricity can help certain animals grow new limbs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bioelectricity could help explain how salamanders regenerate lost limbs.<\/p>\n

” data-medium-file=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/salamander-trial.jpg” data-large-file=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/salamander-trial.jpg” decoding=”async” loading=”lazy” class=”wp-image-25367 size-thumbnail” src=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/salamander-trial-150×150.jpg” alt=”Spotted salamander” width=”150″ height=”150″ srcset=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/salamander-trial.jpg 150w, https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/salamander-trial-96×96.jpg 96w” sizes=”(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px”><\/p>\n

Bioelectricity could help explain how salamanders regenerate lost limbs. \u00a92011 Scott Camazine<\/a>. CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThere are hints that setting up bioelectric fields can give the body almost a template for regeneration,\u201d says Bakal. \u201cIf you cut off part of an organism that can regenerate, like a salamander, it looks like the body sets up an electric field that guides the cells to move and start regrowing the limb. It\u2019s like the field is a marker for where the cells should go and how they should develop.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Strange things happen when that field gets disrupted. In 2017, Levin\u2019s team cut the tails off some flatworms and altered the current at the site of the wound. <\/span>Most of the worms grew a second head<\/span><\/a>. They also found that the way tadpole embryos grow and take shape is <\/span>controlled by electrical signals sent from their brains<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Levin\u2019s studies are still a long way from humans, but, tellingly, the signals his team are investigating also control ion channels. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Cracking cancer cells<\/span><\/h2>\n

Foust and Bakal\u2019s study, which we helped fund, has taken our understanding of bioelectricity in cancer further than ever.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Until recently, it was only possible to look at electrical activity in one cancer cell at a time. There was no way to spot high-speed changes they might use for signalling, either. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, though, Foust\u2019s microscopes can track what\u2019s happening across large groups of cells at once, and they can keep up with unimaginably fast fluctuations in voltage. Combined with Bakal\u2019s machine learning tools, they have the potential to show us exactly how cancer cells use electricity.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe really want to find out both the causes and the effects of the signalling,\u201d says Bakal. Who\u2019s right \u2013 is it or isn\u2019t it a language?<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the difference between a blink and a wave in terms of how the cell sees it and responds?\u201d Bakal asks. \u201cAre they words that cells use? Are there sentences of words that cells process to do something even more complicated?\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe really need to see how the membrane potential fluctuations correlate with how cells grow, move and proliferate [increase in number],\u201d agrees Foust. \u201cAnd we need to push into more complex 3D models so we can be more relevant to what happens in people.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Those questions are a little different, but they can only be answered together. Foust and Bakal have got so far because their team combines neuroscientists, cancer biologists, engineers and machine learning experts. \u201cThis is really one of these perfect situations where different fields come together and give us something we couldn\u2019t have reached otherwise,\u201d says Bakal. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

What does this all mean for treating cancer?<\/span> <\/span><\/h2>\n

The idea of cancer cells also working together, whispering back and forth under the rest of the body\u2019s crackle, isn\u2019t a comfortable one. It\u2019s hard to accept that cancer could exploit the way we think, feel and act to achieve its own harmful ends. The idea can even seem like a contradiction: cancer is often called a disease of <\/span>unchecked <\/span><\/i>or <\/span>uncontrolled <\/span><\/i>cell growth.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone expects cancer to be this out-of-control growth, where all the cells are different,\u201d says Bakal. \u201cBut I think it\u2019s becoming clear that there\u2019s quite a bit of order. Hell doesn\u2019t just break loose: I think they\u2019ve changed their control system, evolved their own control systems to be able to do what they do. <\/span><\/p>\n

Breast cancer cells <\/p>\n

” data-medium-file=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Untitled-620-x-348-px-300×168.jpg” data-large-file=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Untitled-620-x-348-px.jpg” decoding=”async” loading=”lazy” class=”wp-image-24323 size-thumbnail” src=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Untitled-620-x-348-px-150×150.jpg” alt=”Breast cancer cells” width=”150″ height=”150″ srcset=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Untitled-620-x-348-px-150×150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Untitled-620-x-348-px-96×96.jpg 96w” sizes=”(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px”><\/p>\n

Breast cancer cells Credit: NCI <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cDifferent parts of the tumour are signalling to each other, perhaps to coordinate growth. They\u2019re setting up their own little communication networks to function together as a community.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

And that\u2019s something doctors and scientists can work with. If cancer cells rely on communication, we can treat cancer by stopping its cells communicating.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDisrupting the communication is only going to be beneficial,\u201d explains Bakal. \u201cIt gives us hope for new treatment strategies.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Think about it: what would things be like if <\/span>we<\/span><\/i> couldn\u2019t communicate? <\/span><\/p>\n

There wouldn\u2019t be any of these words here, for a start, or any scientists teaming up to investigate cancer, but it gets much <\/span>more fundamental than that. Would we be here at all without our ability to talk and share?<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Imagine trying to build a house as part of a group that couldn\u2019t plan or work together. Imagine the house you manage to build. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Then, since all of this is electric anyway, imagine it being hit by a lightning storm.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the same for any community,\u201d says Bakal. \u201cWe\u2019re much more vulnerable if you disrupt the communication between us.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Tim<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

References<\/h2>\n

\u201cVoltage Imaging Reveals the Dynamic Electrical Signatures of Human Breast Cancer Cells\u201d by Peter Quicke, Yilin Sun, Mar Arias-Garcia, Melina Beykou, Corey D. Acker, Mustafa B. A. Djamgoz, Chris Bakal, and Amanda J. Foust. Published 11 November 2022 in Communications Biology<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This study was funded by the Integrated Biological Imaging Network<\/a>, the Royal Academy of Engineering<\/a>, the Biotechnology and Biology Research Council<\/a> (BBRC, part of UKRI<\/a>), Wellcome Trust<\/a>, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council<\/a> (EPSRC, part of UKRI), Cancer Research UK<\/a> and Stand Up to Cancer UK<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

More on this topic<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By opening and closing ion channels, cancer cells can change how they behave. \u00a9TaePY15MU \/Shutterstock.com Djamgoz focused on one channel in particular: a sodium channel. Cancer cells open it to let in ions that make them more likely to metastasise. This ability to spread and form secondary tumours in other organs is the main cause […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5137],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28678"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43040,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28678\/revisions\/43040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}