Korean researchers find new way to tackle cancer cells

암세포 자살시키는 새 항암 치료법 개발
A team of Korean researchers found a new mechanism of treating cancer cells.
What makes it unique is that this mehtod can solve a major side effect of conventional treatments
Park Ji-won turns the spotlight to the breakthrough discovery.
Three teams of Korean researchers have jointly developed a new method to target cancer cells that could pave the way to a new generation of cancer treatments.
The latest study led by Professor Ryu Ja-hyoung of Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology was published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

The newly developed method targets the mitochondria of a cancer cell.
The main role of a cell's mitochondria is to create energy,... and if it is disrupted, the cell will end up dying.
While existing anticancer drugs and treatments aim at tackling proteins in cancer cells,... this new approach uses a phenylalanine dipeptide with a mithochondria-targeting moiety known as triphenyl phosphonium, or Mito-FF.
The Mito-FF fibrils drastically damage the mitochondria membrane of cancer cells and kill them.


"As the newly-developed method could remove cancer cells in a totally different way compared to existing methods,... the study is expected to solve a major side effect of conventional treatments,... which is building drug tolerance,... or tumors becoming resistant to specialized medicine."

The lead author of the study expects the new method to set the foundations for a new series of treatments that could maximize the healing process while minimizing side effects.
Park Ji-won, Arirang News.

[eltonzheng]

The first and second authors of the paper is not Korean.