Preclinical research from the University of Rochester’s Wilmot Cancer Institute has revealed that taurine—a compound produced naturally in the body and found in foods like meat, fish, and eggs—plays a pivotal role in the development of myeloid cancers such as leukemia. The findings, published in Nature, bring scientists closer to novel strategies for targeting these aggressive blood cancers.
Investigators led by Jeevisha Bajaj, PhD, demonstrated that leukemia cells cannot synthesize taurine on their own. Instead, they rely on a specific transporter (encoded by the SLC6A6 gene) to import taurine from the bone marrow microenvironment. By using genetic tools to block this transporter, the team successfully halted leukemia growth in both mouse models and human leukemia cell samples.
The study also uncovered that, once inside the cancer cells, taurine fuels glycolysis—the process by which glucose is broken down to produce energy—thereby promoting tumor expansion. Prior to this work, taurine’s role in cancer progression was not recognized.
“We are very excited about these studies because they demonstrate that targeting uptake by myeloid leukemia cells may be a possible new avenue for treatment of these aggressive diseases,” said Bajaj, an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Genetics and a member of Wilmot’s Cancer Microenvironment research program.
The research shows that expression of the taurine transporter is essential for growth across multiple myeloid cancer subtypes, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Future investigations will explore how signals within the bone marrow niche drive the progression of MDS to acute leukemia.
Jane Liesveld, MD, a Wilmot oncologist and co-author of the study, cautioned, “Dr. Bajaj’s work shows that local levels of taurine in bone marrow may enhance leukemia growth, suggesting caution in use of high-dose taurine supplementation.”
“Metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of cancer, and we are at the very beginning of understanding metabolic effects on leukemia cells,” Liesveld added. “The prior focus has been on genetic changes, but the focus is expanding to understanding how leukemia cells are able to hijack various metabolic pathways for their own survival.”
Concluding their paper, the Wilmot team writes, “Since taurine is a common ingredient in energy drinks and is often provided as a supplement to mitigate the side effects of chemotherapy, our work suggests that it may be of interest to carefully consider the benefits of supplemental taurine in leukemia patients.”
Looking ahead, Bajaj noted, “Our current data suggest that it would be helpful to develop stable and effective ways to block taurine from entering leukemia cells.”
The multi-institutional study was supported by the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the American Society of Hematology, the Leukemia Research Foundation, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Read the full paper in Nature.