A Scientific Breakthrough in the Fight Against Pediatric Brain Cancer
Researchers from Bar-Ilan University have uncovered a cell survival mechanism that may help advance future efforts to combat an aggressive brain cancer in children
The new study, led by Dr. Moran Dvela-Levitt of Bar-Ilan University’s Faculty of Life Sciences, together with researchers Chen Lanchisky, Arin Muhammad Majadli, and Dr. Irina Bronstein-Berger, reveals a new biological mechanism through which cells in the body are able to cope with stress conditions. However, the study found that cancerous tumors exploit this mechanism in order to survive and even spread. The researchers also succeeded in identifying a compound that inhibits the process, and a patent application has already been filed for the discovery.
How do cells manage to survive when they are under stress? This was one of the central questions behind a new Bar-Ilan University study, published in the journal Cellular & Molecular Biology Letters. As part of the study, the researchers identified a protein called TMED9, which becomes active when the cell enters a state of stress and helps it continue functioning, and even continue dividing, despite the difficult conditions.
But then came the surprising finding: the researchers discovered that cancer cells also exploit this exact mechanism to their advantage. Cancer cells are often exposed to a hostile environment that places a heavy burden on cellular function. Yet instead of collapsing or stopping, they increase the production of the key protein TMED9, allowing them not only to survive but to continue thriving and spreading.
The study also focused on one of the most aggressive and difficult brain cancers in children: DIPG, a diffuse tumor in the brainstem that is currently considered incurable and is characterized by a very short life expectancy from the time of diagnosis. According to the findings, this mechanism is also essential in these cells and helps the tumor cells multiply and migrate.
In collaboration with Prof. Chaya Brodie, an expert in brain tumors, the laboratory team succeeded in identifying a compound that inhibits the activity of the TMED9 protein in cancer cells. In the laboratory, this inhibition was found to slow down, and even halt, the development of the aggressive cancer cells.
For the researchers, this discovery deepens our understanding of how cells cope with stress. For the medical world, it may open a new direction in the future treatment of one of the most difficult cancers in children.
Beyond the scientific achievement, Bar-Ilan also notes the way in which the research progressed: the article was accepted for publication at an unusually fast pace, during an especially complex period — amid the war with Iran and the ongoing fighting in Gaza.
The research was funded by the Israel Cancer Association, the Israel Science Foundation, and the Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program.