Defeating leukaemia cells by depriving them of energy

Selective activation of the AMPK enzyme would lead to the death of leukaemia cells (in purple in this image). Jérôme Tamburini / UNIGE - A Swiss-French team that includes scientists has discovered how to trigger apoptosis in leukaemia cells by disrupting their energy maintenance mechanism. Acute myeloid leukaemia, which affects blood and bone marrow cells, is a particularly dangerous form of cancer. More than half of patients under the age of 60 die. This proportion rises to 85% for patients over 60. A team from the University of Geneva , Switzerland, and from Inserm, in France, have identified a previously unknown mechanism that could lead to the development of new therapies. The selective activation of AMPK, a key enzyme in the energy balance of tumour cells, would indeed lead to their death by triggering the cells stress response.