Taurine is an amino acid occurring naturally in the body, and found in energy drinks as well as foods like fish and meat – and while it has certain benefits for the body, a new study suggests it’s also an important fuel source for driving cancers such as leukemia.
Led by a team from the University of Rochester Medical Center (UR Medicine), the study analyzed the behavior of leukemia cells, finding that they could borrow taurine from the surrounding bone marrow and use it to grow more quickly. It gives these cells a growth jolt, similar to how we might get an alertness jolt from an energy drink.
When the researchers blocked taurine access in mouse models and transplanted leukemia cells from humans or mice, cancer growth was suppressed. This suggests that targeting taurine could help in treatments for some cancer types, such as leukemia.
“Local levels of taurine in bone marrow may enhance leukemia growth, suggesting caution in use of high-dose taurine supplementation,” says oncologist Jane Liesveld, from UR Medicine.
It’s that supplementation, through sources such as energy drinks, that the researchers are worried about. It’s still early days in terms of joining these dots, but giving the body extra taurine might not be the best idea for stopping cancers.
However, further investigation into how this all works is going to be needed. It’s not clear yet how this might work in humans, or how additional taurine outside of bone marrow might have an impact.
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With different cancers though, there’s a different context. Taurine is also known to boost the immune system in certain ways, and previous studies have shown this can help to fight off gastric cancers in the stomach.
Understanding more about the metabolism of cancers, and how they survive and thrive, is an increasingly significant part of cancer research. We know that genetic mutations can lead to cancers growing out of control, but it’s not the only trick the disease has.
“Metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of cancer, and we are at the very beginning of understanding metabolic effects on leukemia cells,” says Liesveld.
“The prior focus has been on genetic changes, but the focus is expanding to understanding how leukemia cells are able to hijack various metabolic pathways for their own survival.”
While energy drinks undoubtedly work as advertised – giving you a brief burst of energy – there are growing concerns around the health risks of these drinks, which have been linked to heart disease and impaired cognition in previous studies.
It’s possible that cancer risks might be added to that list of potential downsides, although the high sugar and caffeine content is probably a more pressing health concern than taurine.
What’s more significant about these discoveries is that cancer cells could be stopped by cutting off their energy diet.
Myeloid cancers such as leukemia interfere with the normal functioning of blood cells, and they can be fast-moving and difficult to treat. Anything we can do to slow them down is likely to improve recovery rates.
“We are very excited about these studies because they demonstrate that targeting uptake by myeloid leukemia cells may be a possible new avenue for treatment of these aggressive diseases,” says stem cell and cancer biologist Jeevisha Bajaj, from UR Medicine.
“Our current data suggest that it would be helpful to develop stable and effective ways to block taurine from entering leukemia cells.”
The research has been published in Nature.
