Japanese researchers have shown that a natural chemical in kencur, a kind of ginger, can upset the energy production of cancer cells, causing them to become disorganized. Cancer cells frequently employ a backup strategy to produce energy, whereas healthy cells effectively use oxygen. This chemical generated from ginger doesn’t directly target that approach; instead, it inhibits the cells’ ability to produce fat, which, ironically, makes the cells even more reliant on their backup strategy. The discovery paves the way for new approaches to combat cancer by demonstrating how natural compounds may be able to target the disease’s secret energy tricks.
For example, ATP (adenosine triphosphate), an energy source essential to life, is created when human cells oxidize glucose. Through the process of glycolysis, which does not need oxygen even in the presence of oxygen, cancer cells create ATP and transform glucose into lactic and pyruvic acids. The Warburg effect, a technique for generating ATP, is thought to be inefficient, which begs the issue of why cancer cells select this energy pathway to support their survival and growth.
Associate Professor Akiko Kojima-Yuasa’s group at the Graduate School of Human Life and Ecology at Osaka Metropolitan University examined the cinnamic acid ester ethyl p-methoxycinnamate, a key ingredient in kencur ginger, and its mode of action in an effort to find this energy catalyst. Ethyl p-methoxycinnamate has been shown to have inhibitory effects on cancer cells in earlier studies. To forward their research, Ehrlich ascites tumor cells were exposed to the acid ester in order to determine which part of the cancer cells’ energy cycle was impacted.
The findings showed that, contrary to what is usually believed, the acid ester limits ATP generation by interfering with lipid metabolism and de novo fatty acid synthesis. Additionally, the researchers found that enhanced glycolysis was triggered by inhibition caused by acid ester, which may have served as a survival mechanism for the cells. The incapacity of ethyl p-methoxycinnamate to cause cell death was thought to be the cause of this adaptation.
“These findings not only provide new insights that supplement and expand the theory of the Warburg effect, which can be considered the starting point of cancer metabolism research, but are also expected to lead to the discovery of new therapeutic targets and the development of new treatment methods,” stated Professor Kojima-Yuasa.
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