Features: April 8, 2002

Stressed Out Cells

Humans are often more productive when under stress. The same can be said for a certain type of mammalian cell, known as a hybridoma, that produces proteins used in pregnancy tests and the quick test for strep throat. These proteins, called antibodies, have a variety of diagnostic and potential therapeutic uses that include anti-cancer drugs, suppression of severe inflammation, and treatment of allergies.

But here's the catch: just like in people, stress takes its toll. The stress (such as heat or irritants like salt) faced by the cells reduces their ability to reproduce and sometimes even kills them before they can produce the protein.

Susan Sharfstein, assistant professor of chemical engineering, is studying how osmotic stress, or adding salt to the cell, affects its function and whether researchers can bypass the link between stress and cell death to directly increase protein production.

Because of the potential these antibodies have in treating certain cancers, researchers are eager to find a way to efficiently develop them in large quantities, said Sharfstein. Understanding how the intracellular machinery works would help regulate the process, she added. "If we can determine how salt signals the cell to slow down and die, we can then try to cut off that signal and redirect it to the part of the cell that will produce more antibodies."

Sharfstein found that stress increases the cell's whole metabolism in addition to increasing antibody production. The next step is to find out the maximum amount of protein a cell can make before part of the cell gives out.

Sharfstein's research is supported by an NSF CAREER award that she received in 2000 while at the University of Toledo.