Evidence Of Enzyme Deficiency Found In Fatal Lymphomas

New findings published in the journal Nature Communications have found new evidence of enzyme deficiency in lymphomas.

Researchers at the School of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio discovered direct links disrupting the metabolism, otherwise known as energy production in the cells, to a common and oftentimes fatal type of lymphoma.

"The link between metabolism and cancer has been proposed or inferred to exist for a long time, but what is more scarce is evidence for a direct connection -- genetic mutations in metabolic enzymes," said senior author Ricardo C.T. Aguiar, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of hematology-oncology in the School of Medicine and a faculty scientist with the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at the UT Health Science Center and the South Texas Veterans Health Care System, Audie L. Murphy Division. "We have discovered a metabolic imbalance that is oncogenic or pro-cancer," Dr. Aguiar said.

During the study, researchers found that the gene which encodes enzyme D2-hydroxyglutarte dehydrogenase (D2HGDH) is mutated in a subset of cancers called diffuse large B-cell lymphomas. It's in the mutated lymphoma cells that there is a deficiency of the metabolite alpha-ketoglutarate (α-KG) which the cell requires, both to thrive and to function.

"When the levels of α-KG are abnormally low, another class of enzymes called dioxygenases don't function properly, resulting in a host of additional disturbances," Dr. Aguiar added, via a news release. 

Furthermore, as recent findings have revealed that α-KG has also been newly identified as a critical regulator of aging and stem cell maintenance, he notes that it could also be linked to other health issues, besides cancer, alone.

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