Drug-induced cellular membrane complexes induce cancer cell death

Old molecules and new complexes: researchers at Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) have discovered cell membrane complexes called ceramidosomes that may be a new target for drugs to kill cancer cells. This discovery began while figuring out the unexpected cancer cell-killing activity of an FDA-approved multiple sclerosis drug called FTY720 (Gilenya, Novartis). Their findings are reported in the January 2019 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.