Formaldehde in the Body
Formaldehyde is a toxin that can damage our DNA. However,
our cells have two lines of defense against the danger of formaldehyde. An enzyme
can convert the formaldehyde into a less dangerous chemical, formate or DNA
damage caused by formaldehyde can be fixed by DNA repair enzymes.
It has been known that we produce formaldehyde in our
bodies, but it was not known where it came from. There has been research uncovered
that formaldehyde is a by-product of the key process called the ‘one carbon
cycle’. The cycle used folate to create DNA and essential amino acids.
These findings may provide a new target for developing
cancer drugs, as some types of cancer like BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast cancers, lack
the DNA repair enzymes to protect themselves against formaldehyde toxicity.
Researchers have found that when treating lab grown bacteria with folate can
lead to the release of formaldehyde, which could lethally damage the DNA of the
BRCA cancer cells. Although healthy cells would not be damaged because they
have functioning DNA repair mechanisms.
It was also found that formaldehyde can also have a positive
function in cells. This is because it fuels the one carbon cycle, which is used
to create the building blocks of life. This discovery suggests how cancer cells
may be able to resist current chemotherapy drugs that block folate going into
the one carbon cycle. With the folate pathway blocked, cancer cells may be able
to keep functioning by switching to using the formaldehyde pathway to build the
DNA and proteins that cancer cells need to multiply.
This study was conducted on laboratory cell cultures dosed
with large amounts of folate and altered so that they could not process
formaldehyde. So, the researchers caution that no conclusion can be made/drawn
about whether these is an effect in a living animal consuming folate.
Burgos-Barragan, G., Wit, N., Meiser,
J., Dingler, F. A., Pietzke, M., Mulderrig, L., ... & Monks, P. S.
(2017). Mammals divert endogenous genotoxic formaldehyde into one-carbon
metabolism. Nature, 548(7669), 549-554.
Your post was very informative. I did not know the possible biological benefits of formaldehyde production prior to reading your post. I think its interesting how the production of formaldehyde can play a part in the destruction of cancerous cells.
ReplyDeleteThis was actually all completely new to me. I had no idea that formaldehyde was produced in the body or that it could have such an effect on cancer cells. This was a really interesting post!
ReplyDeleteI learned a lot from your post, especially that formaldehyde could be used as a cancer treatment. I find it interesting that years ago scientist didn't know where to start to treat cancer, but now there are so many findings that could potentially be the answer. Just shows how much we are expanding on our knowledge about the body! Great post!
ReplyDeleteI never knew about all the possible uses formaldehyde could be used for - especially as a cancer treatment. All I knew about formaldehyde before this was how the structure looked (thanks to organic chemistry) and that it caused the awful smell in zoology. It's interesting to know it has many uses and is even produced in our own bodies!
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