Understanding Nutrient Transport in the Body: Insights into Cancer Treatment

When we consume vitamins or meals, the nutrients are processed in the digestive system, entering the bloodstream, and eventually reaching various cells throughout the body. However, the precise mechanisms that regulate how nutrients move from blood vessels into specific cells remain largely unexplored. Key questions include how nutrients are distributed to the brain versus immune cells and what factors influence this distribution.

There are approximately 5,000 different metabolites—final nutritional products—in human blood. Despite extensive research, scientists still lack comprehensive understanding of how most of these metabolites are transported into cells. Gaining this knowledge is vital for linking diet to health outcomes and for optimizing the burgeoning supplement industry, which often makes assumptions about nutrient efficacy and targeting.

This research has significant implications for cancer therapy. Cancer cells tend to absorb nutrients at a faster rate and in larger quantities than normal cells, fueling their rapid growth and metastasis. Recent studies have focused on identifying the specific transporters—specialized protein channels acting like delivery trucks—that facilitate nutrient entry into cells. Understanding these transporters is crucial for developing strategies to starve cancer cells by blocking their nutrient supply.

Kivanç Birsoy, a researcher at Rockefeller University, is leading efforts to map these nutrient pathways. His work concentrates on transporters such as SLC25A39, which is responsible for glutathione transport—a molecule that protects cells from oxidative damage and is often exploited by cancer cells. By studying how these transporters function, Birsoy aims to identify vulnerabilities in cancer cells that could be targeted with drugs.

His research isn't limited to cancer alone. For instance, he has explored transporters involved in moving the nutrient-like lipid choline into cells. Mutations impairing choline transport can cause neurodegenerative conditions like posterior column ataxia with retinitis pigmentosa (PCARP). Current collaborations aim to use high doses of choline to slow disease progression. The lab also investigates mitochondrial nutrient transporters, which are critical for cellular energy production and are implicated in neurodegeneration and aging.

What drives Birsoy’s excitement is the potential for translating mapping of transporters into targeted therapies and personalized nutrition. By elucidating how transporters work, scientists hope to develop better drugs and tailor dietary recommendations to improve health outcomes.

This research underscores the complex relationship between nutrients, cellular transport mechanisms, and disease, with promising avenues for combating cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and aging-related conditions.

Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-06-qa-discusses-nutrients-body-cancer.html