08.02.2021 change 08.02.2021

Scientists from three universities to check how and when cancer begins in cells

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Scientists at the SOLARIS National Synchrotron Radiation Centre in Kraków want to check how cancer begins to develop in cells by testing tissues from head and neck tumours.

The scientists from the Medical University of Silesia, the University of Silesia in Katowice and the Jagiellonian University, are carrying out pioneering research into synchrotron radiation tissue.

Team leader Dr. Jarosław Paluch from the Laryngology Department of the Andrzej Mielęcki Clinical Hospital at the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice said: “Our goal is to find out how oxygen behaves in cancer cells. The basis of cancer development, infiltration and metastasis is the oxygen content in the cells. 

“Its amount cannot be tested physically, but it is possible to test it indirectly by monitoring changes in iron values. The device that will enable us to monitor and analyse these changes is SOLARIS.”

Professor Iwona Niedzielska, head of Department of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery at the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice added: “We are entering the basic biology of cancer. For now, the research will not translate into the treatment of patients, but we hope that it will happen in the future. Our intention is to check under what conditions, under the influence of what factors a healthy cell becomes a cancer cell.”

In the next stage, the scientists want to use state-of-the-art cryo-electron microscope (Cryo-EM) to study frozen preparations and check how proteins behave in cancer cells. Oxygen and protein studies are complementary and will allow them to draw conclusions about the mechanism of cancer formation.

The SOLARIS Centre in Kraków is a centre for synchrotron radiation research. This radiation, also known as synchrotron light, is produced in a synchrotron, to which research lines with measuring stations are connected.

Synchrotrons enable scientists to look deep into matter and conduct precise analyses. As a result, they can study both the composition of the tested substance and its structure; the light from the synchrotron can penetrate into the examined matter. It can reproduce in detail hidden layers or their selected fragments, without damaging those located outside.

Synchrotrons have opened up completely new research possibilities, enabling scientists to conduct analyses previously unavailable to researchers. Synchrotrons also allow them to obtain better results of those tests that were previously carried out using conventional methods - in a shorter time. They are currently the most versatile devices available in natural and technical sciences. (PAP)

Author: Anna Gumułka

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