How cells let in creatine and how medicine can block it
Structural insights into the substrate uptake and inhibition of the human creatine transporter (hCRT)
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Your body uses a tiny machine called hCRT to bring creatine into cells. This machine needs salt parts (sodium) to work. A medicine called RGX202 can block this machine so cancer cells can't get energy.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
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Max 5Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Your body uses a tiny machine called hCRT to bring creatine into cells. This machine needs salt parts (sodium) to work. A medicine called RGX202 can block this machine so cancer cells can't get energy.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 5Publication
Authors
Yuan X, Yin J, Liu C, Chen X, Chen M, Wang Y, Yang Z, Wang Y, Jiang L, Zhou N, Wang X, Liu B, Ma Z, Wang K, Li H, Zhang S, Shang Y, Yang M
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Claims (4)
Your muscles need sodium to pull in creatine, kind of like a battery-powered door — if the battery's dead or there's no sodium around, creatine can't get inside, even if you're drinking plenty of water.
A drug called RGX202 sticks to the same spot on a protein that carries creatine in the body, kind of like two keys trying to fit in the same lock — so creatine can't get in, and its movement gets blocked.
The protein that moves creatine in human cells has a specific 3D shape made of 12 spiral sections, and this shape helps it grab creatine and sodium like a lock and key.
Creatine sticks to a special spot in a human protein using specific handholds, kind of like a key fitting into a lock, with certain parts of the protein helping hold it in place using molecular Velcro and tiny magnets.