hasA
Science Fair Project Summary
Each year, 7.6 million people die from cancer worldwide. Conventional cancer treatment involves chemotherapy and radiation; however, these “treatments” actually have a deleterious role in ridding cancer. Today’s treatments target all kinds of cells: malignant and benign. Additionally, certain cancers have become resistant to chemotherapy treatments, rendering conventional treatment less effective. This study investigates the effects of restricting oxygen to lung cancer cells through the exposure of apo-HasA hemophores, which bind to the oxygen-carrying molecule, heme. Apo-HasA hemophores were obtained from column purification of transformed BL21 competent cells using the HasA hemophore gene of interest from Yersinia pestis. These hemophores were then exposed to A549 lung cancer cells three weeks, and results were quantified using cell count every two days. According to the studies of Nobel Prize winner, Otto Warburg, cancer cells have an increased metabolic rate, requiring much more oxygen than normal cells. Therefore, by restricting oxygen supply to cancer cells via the heme-binding abilities of HasA hemophores, cancer cells should go through apoptosis, programmed cellular death, due to disruptions of normal metabolic processes. According to the study, cancerous lung cells treated with 10 mg/mL of apo-HasA hemophore showed a 62% growth decrease and those treated with 5 mg/mL of the apo-HasA hemophore showed a 41% growth decrease. In conclusion, the HasA hemophore was able to render heme’s ability to transport oxygen to cancer cells obsolete by direct binding of HasA hemophores to heme particles; therefore, cancer cells were not able to metabolize properly, which ultimately led to apoptosis. This study paves the way into a new era of cancer research: a nutrient-restricting treatment of cancer.
Each year, 7.6 million people die from cancer worldwide. Conventional cancer treatment involves chemotherapy and radiation; however, these “treatments” actually have a deleterious role in ridding cancer. Today’s treatments target all kinds of cells: malignant and benign. Additionally, certain cancers have become resistant to chemotherapy treatments, rendering conventional treatment less effective. This study investigates the effects of restricting oxygen to lung cancer cells through the exposure of apo-HasA hemophores, which bind to the oxygen-carrying molecule, heme. Apo-HasA hemophores were obtained from column purification of transformed BL21 competent cells using the HasA hemophore gene of interest from Yersinia pestis. These hemophores were then exposed to A549 lung cancer cells three weeks, and results were quantified using cell count every two days. According to the studies of Nobel Prize winner, Otto Warburg, cancer cells have an increased metabolic rate, requiring much more oxygen than normal cells. Therefore, by restricting oxygen supply to cancer cells via the heme-binding abilities of HasA hemophores, cancer cells should go through apoptosis, programmed cellular death, due to disruptions of normal metabolic processes. According to the study, cancerous lung cells treated with 10 mg/mL of apo-HasA hemophore showed a 62% growth decrease and those treated with 5 mg/mL of the apo-HasA hemophore showed a 41% growth decrease. In conclusion, the HasA hemophore was able to render heme’s ability to transport oxygen to cancer cells obsolete by direct binding of HasA hemophores to heme particles; therefore, cancer cells were not able to metabolize properly, which ultimately led to apoptosis. This study paves the way into a new era of cancer research: a nutrient-restricting treatment of cancer.