Ancely Ferreira da Silva (l.) and Florêncio Porto Freitas are researchers at the Rudolf Virchow Centre. They are among the first authors of the new publication in Nature. (Image: bkfotofilm.de / Rudolf-Virchow-Zentrum)
Ancely Ferreira da Silva (l.) and Florêncio Porto Freitas are researchers at the Rudolf Virchow Centre. They are among the first authors of the new publication in Nature. (Image: bkfotofilm.de / Rudolf-Virchow- Zentrum ) - A precursor of cholesterol, previously categorised as harmful, can protect cancer cells from cell death. This finding, published in Nature, opens new doors for cancer research. In a groundbreaking study, a team led by Würzburg Professor José Pedro Friedmann Angeli has shown that the cholesterol precursor 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC) plays a crucial role as an antioxidant: it integrates into the cell membranes and protects the cells by preventing a certain type of cell death, known as ferroptosis. "Until now, the accumulation of 7-DHC was only associated to neurodevelopmental defects, now we show that it actually increases cellular fitness and could promote a more aggressive behaviour in cancers such as Burkitt's lymphoma and neuroblastoma," says Friedmann Angeli.
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