A team of scientists at the University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHealth) has developed a new procedure to control molecular switches in the human body responsible for developing new cells.

In a study featured in the journal Science, UTHealth researcher Dr. John Hancock and his colleagues studied the growth of human cells as regulated by molecular switches in the body, particularly one known as K-Ras.

Mutated forms of this molecular switch are present in around 20 percent of cancer cases in humans in the United States. These mutations have also been found to lock the K-Ras molecular switch in an activated position.

Hancock explained that when the K-Ras is kept in the "on" position, the molecular switch causes cells to undergo division, which can eventually lead to the development of cancer. He said that they were able to identify a new molecular mechanism that is capable of enhancing the activity of the K-Ras switch.

The UTHealth researchers focused their study on small electrical charges that all cells maintain in their plasma membrane. They were able to show that the electrical charge that each cell carries with it is inversely proportional to the signal strength of a K-Ras.

Through the use of a high-powered electron microscope, Hancock and his colleagues discovered that certain molecules of lipids in the plasma membrane react to an electrical charge, which in turn enhances the Ras signaling circuit output. This response is comparable to that of a transistor found in an electronic circuit.

Dr. Yong Zhou, Hancock's colleague at the UTHealth Medical School and first author of the study, said that the findings may help explain a long-standing observation that most cancer cells try to lessen their electrical charge.

Observations made on animal and human cells were later confirmed in the membrane organization of fruit fly models.

Hancock said that the results of their study have significant implications for biology.

Aside from their immediate relevance to the K-Ras molecular switch in cancer, the findings show a new way for cells to use electrical charges in order to manipulate several signaling pathways, which can be directly relevant to the nervous system.

The findings of the UTHealth study are viewed as vital in the development of treatments for some of the deadliest types of cancers such as colon, lung and pancreatic cancers. These cancers are known to be caused by an uncontrolled growth of cells triggered by the deterioration of signaling cascades in cells.