Natural variations of copper and sulfur stable isotopes in blood of hepatocellular carcinoma patients.

ABSTRACT: The widespread hypoxic conditions of the tumor microenvironment can impair the metabolism of bioessential elements such as copper and sulfur, notably by changing their redox state and, as a consequence, their ability to bind specific molecules. Because competing redox state is known to drive isotopic fractionation, we have used here the stable isotope compositions of copper ((65)Cu/(63)Cu) and sulfur ((34)S/(32)S) in the blood of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as a tool to explore the cancer-driven copper and sulfur imbalances. We report that copper is (63)Cu-enriched by ∼0.4‰ and sulfur is (32)S-enriched by ∼1.5‰ in the blood of patients compared with that of control subjects. As expected, HCC patients have more copper in red blood cells and serum compared with control subje

SUBMITTER: Balter V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4313854 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature