VOLVOX CARTERI AS A MODEL SYSTEM TO STUDY THE LINK BETWEEN REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES AND CANCER

Abstract

There is a need for novel cancer treatments that are focused on targeting specific properties of tumor-promoting cells to selectively eradicate them from the body. It has been found that these cells have a marked increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, which facilitate tumorigenic processes. However, even higher levels of ROS (i.e. oxidative stress) induce behaviors that promote cell death or tumor-suppressing behaviors. With cancer being a breakdown of cooperative behavior amongst cells within a multicellular organism (e.g. disruption of division of labor leading to uncontrolled proliferation) we can look towards other organisms to demonstrate this exploitable relationship between ROS and cancer. For example, Volvox carteri is a model organism for studying the evolution of multicellularity and is said to have a “cancer-like phenotype” known as regA mutants, which undergo uncontrolled proliferation in their somatic cells. V. carteri is also hypothesized to use ROS as an activating signal to promote somatic cell differentiation and prevent uncontrolled proliferation, strengthening the potential for V. carteri to be used as a simpler model organism to study the link between ROS and cancer Here, we show the the importance of ROS as a signal for uncontrolled proliferation and hint at the potential of ROS to be a universal, selective cancer therapy. This work explores the origins of cancer and how simpler signaling pathways could provide deeper insights into how cancer has evolved, and thus, how it could be treated.