The University of Mississippi Medical Center has been granted more than $2.5 million for research related to prostate cancer.
The funding came from the National Cancer Institute and will go toward a five-year study focused on understanding how prostate cancer cells spread to bones and why the disease is so difficult to treat following bone metastasis. Metastasis is when cancer cells spread from the place where they first formed to another part of the body.
Dr. Jawed Siddiqui, associate professor of cell and molecular biology, will serve as the principal investigator of the study entitled, “The Significance of Lipoylation in Prostate Cancer Bone Metastasis to Develop Innovative Therapeutics,” at UMMC’s Cancer Center and Research Institute.
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“This project primarily centers on investigating the role of protein lipoylation and mitochondrial metabolism in guiding prostate cancer cells to the bone microenvironment,” Siddiqui said. “We will also investigate the importance of cuproptosis, a recently discovered form of cell death closely tied to cellular metabolic fate. We believe that prostate cancer cells hijack these metabolic processes to survive and grow in the bone.”
Lipoylation is a process cells use to “switch on” certain proteins so they can make energy. Cuproptosis occurs when excess copper accumulates in a cell, shutting down the energy-producing system, officials say. Some cancer cells are especially sensitive to this, which is why researchers are exploring whether this weakness could be exploited as a new therapeutic vulnerability.
“If we can show that targeting protein lipoylation and cuproptosis can slow or prevent bone metastasis, it could lead to a completely new way of treating advanced prostate cancer and, potentially, other cancers that spread to bone. In the long term, we hope these discoveries will open new avenues for targeted therapies in precision oncology, which ultimately help patients live longer, healthier lives.”
Over the next five years, UMMC officials say its research team will not only understand the disease mechanisms but also explore potential therapies, said Siddiqui, noting that the study is in the preclinical stage.
Studies show that more than 84% of people with metastatic prostate cancer develop tumors that spread to the bone, a condition known as bone metastasis. Prostate, breast, lung and kidney cancers have traits that make them more likely to spread to bone, while other cancers, such as cancers of the brain, skin or digestive system, are less likely to metastasize there.
“Our lab has long been interested in exploring the cellular pathways involved in bone metastasis of prostate, breast and lung cancers,” Siddiqui said. “Like other particular projects in the lab, this project also addresses the puzzle of why the bone is a favorable site for growth and survival of some cancer cell types. We are using experimental models and innovative techniques to decipher the process and mechanisms of bone metastasis.”
Other studies underway in Siddiqui’s UMMC lab include research into the molecular mechanism of bone metastasis, bone microenvironment, osteoimmunology, tumor dormancy, osteoimmunology and development of bone metastasis therapies.
The most recent grant funding is paving the way for discoveries in cancer research beyond the prostate, officials add.