KAIST Discovers 'Molecular Switch' That Converts Cancer Cells into Normal Cells

Domestic researchers have discovered a molecular switch capable of reverting cancer cells back to normal cells. The research team explains that the molecular switch can induce cancer reversibility within the gene network at the moment normal cells transform into cancer cells.

Professor Kwang-Hyung Cho (center front row) is taking a commemorative photo with the research team members. Photo by KAIST

On the 5th, KAIST announced that Professor Kwanghyun Jo's research team from the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering developed a technology to capture and analyze the critical transition phenomenon occurring at the moment normal cells change into cancer cells, and discovered a molecular switch that can revert cancer cells back to normal cells.

The critical transition refers to a state change occurring at a specific point, similar to water turning into steam at 100 degrees Celsius. This phenomenon also appears during the process where normal cells transform into cancer cells at a certain point due to the accumulation of genetic and epigenetic changes.

Based on this principle, the research team found that just before normal cells convert into cancer cells, there exists an unstable critical transition state where normal and cancer cells coexist.

They also succeeded in developing a technology to analyze this critical transition state using systems biology methods and discover a molecular switch capable of reversing the cancerization process.

In particular, the research team applied the developed technology to colon cancer cells and confirmed through molecular and cellular experiments that cancer cells can regain characteristics of normal cells.

This is a foundational technology that systematically identifies cancer reversibility molecular switches by automatically inferring a computer model of the gene network governing the critical transition of cancer occurrence from single-cell gene expression data and analyzing it.

Professor Kwanghyun Cho's research team discovered a key molecular switch capable of inducing the reversion of colon cancer cells through gene network model analysis of the critical transition state at the moment normal cells transform into cancer cells. Schematic diagram of the research results. Photo by KAIST

The research team anticipates that the technology for discovering molecular switches could be applied in the future to develop reversible treatments for other types of cancer.

This research was conducted with support from the Mid-career Research Program and Basic Research Laboratory Program of the National Research Foundation under the Ministry of Science and ICT, as well as the Disease-Centered Translational Research Program of the Korea Health Industry Development Institute under the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Professor Kwanghyun Jo introduced the research achievements, stating, "The research team captured the critical transition moment just before normal cells fully transform into cancer cells and discovered a molecular switch that can revert cancer cells back to normal cells. This study is significant in that it revealed the intracellular changes behind the cancer occurrence process at the gene network level, which had long been a mystery."

He emphasized, "This study is the first to identify that the crucial clue to reverting the fate of cancer cells back to normal cells lies hidden in this moment of change."

Meanwhile, the research team developed a foundational technology for reversible cancer treatment at the end of last year, which transforms cancer cells into a state similar to normal cells without killing or removing them.

Until now, all anticancer treatments have focused on killing cancer cells for therapeutic purposes. However, such treatments can cause side effects, including cancer recurrence due to resistance and the death of normal cells.

In contrast, the research team focused on the observation that the cancerization process of normal cells involves reversing the normal cell differentiation trajectory, and based on this, developed reversible cancer treatment technology by creating a digital twin of the gene network governing the differentiation trajectory of normal cells.

They also systematically searched for and discovered master molecular switches that induce normal cell differentiation through simulation analysis, and when applied to colon cancer cells, demonstrated through molecular, cellular, and animal experiments that the state of colon cancer cells normalized.

The research team's achievements are meaningful as foundational technology demonstrating that reverting cancer cells to normal cells is not a coincidental phenomenological discovery but can be systematically achieved by creating and analyzing a digital twin of the cancer cell gene network.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.