Saskatoon’s Synchrotron advancing work to fight cancer

WATCH: Scientists are using Saskatoon technology to advance cancer research.

April is cancer awareness month and scientists at The Canadian Light Source CLS in Saskatoon are doing their part to ensure advancements in research keep moving forward.

Beamline scientist Michel Fodje is doing significant work using the intense light of the synchrotron to examines proteins linked to cancer.

“Proteins in the body are like little molecular machines, and they involved in all the functions that we do in the body, and when these proteins malfunction, they can lead up to diseases like cancer,” Fodje told CTV News.

The breakthrough work he’s doing here is using the only synchrotron in Canada. He’s gathering data about the RAS protein, which is linked to many cancers like those of the neck, head and urinary tract.

“The result of the experiment is that they will now understand the exact shape of this molecule down to the atomic level. So where all the atoms are and that helps in drug development,” he says.

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Once the scientist at the CLS collects the data, it is then sent to researchers in Quebec where they take over.

“What’s really cool about it is that we came back with pictures, at atomic resolution, really high-resolution information,” said Steven Laplante from Quebec’s Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS).

Those images revealed a “pocket” in the protein that appears to be an ideal target for molecular drug treatment according to the experts.

He says it’s “a cryptic pocket — it’s there sometimes and not there other times,” depending on the state of the protein. This is a very important finding.

Improving the medications to combat cancer is Laplante’s focus.

“We need Saskatoon to be able to provide the CLS data, the synchrotron data,” Laplante says.

Laplante and his crew have used data from synchrotrons in Japan, Europe, and the U.S., but he would like to see even more collaboration within Canada given the current political situation.

“We want to be able to move forward with our science, with the least amount of impediment. This is why I think it’s really important for the CLS to exist,” he says.

The Canadian Light Source is working on other significant projects, like developing a generic blood type to suit all transfusion patients if one blood type is in short supply. They also did extensive work on COVID-19, specifically on how the immune system impacts the virus.

This in addition to their projects dealing with cancer.