New KAUST Study Explores How Cells Respond to Acidic Stress

New research from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) showed that restoring a key cellular molecule involved in energy production can partially reverse the effects of acidic stress in human cells.
 Published in Communications Biology, the paper examined how cells respond to slightly acidic conditions. While such conditions are common in tumors, inflamed tissues, and aging organs, their direct effects on cells are not well understood. Even mild extracellular acidity can disrupt healthy cellular function.
 KAUST Associate Professor of Bioscience Mo Li said: “Using a precisely controlled bioreactor system, we show that even mild acidity can significantly disrupt how cells generate energy, impair mitochondrial function, and trigger stress responses.” He noted that supplementing cells with a widely studied longevity-related molecule can partially restore metabolic function and improve cellular health under acidic stress.
 He also said that this matters because similar acidic conditions occur in diseases such as cancer and inflammation, suggesting the findings could help inform future strategies to protect cells and support human health.
 According to KAUST, tissue acidity is well recognized as a feature of diseases such as cancer and chronic inflammation. However, its direct effects on human cells have remained poorly understood, in part due to limitations in experimental control. In this study, KAUST researchers used a rigorously controlled system to isolate the effects of pH from other variables.
 Postdoctoral researcher Dr. Yingzi Zhang said the KAUST team has introduced a novel multi-omics framework linking acidity to metabolic reprogramming, immune activation, and mitochondrial genome instability, supported by integrated metabolomics, transcriptomics, and epigenomics datasets.