BiochemRobyn
02-21-2008, 11:15 AM
Interesting news:
I was researching the red cyanobacteria in saltwater tanks, and I ran across this article:
"A team of researchers has identified a potent new anti-cancer drug isolated from a toxic blue-green algae found in the South Pacific.
.......
The ScA compound was found in the cyanobacteria L. Majuscula, also known as “mermaid’s hair,” gathered off the coast of Fiji in the South Pacific by the laboratory of William Gerwick at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
A diverse team of researchers from UCSD’s Cancer Centre, School of Medicine, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Scripps worked to identify, screen and test marine compounds in vitro and in vivo. They found that ScA inhibits neovascularization, the formation of blood vessels that feed tumors, and also had a direct impact on tumour cell proliferation.
“The compound isn’t toxic to the cyanobacteria itself, but activates a ‘death pathway’, present in our cells,” said Stupack. “When the cells of the blood vessels that feed tumours become activated and proliferate, they become especially sensitive to this agent.”
Gerwick noted that if a normal-sized swimming pool full of cancer cells were treated with ScA, it would take only three milligrams – about the weight of a grain of rice – to kill all of the cancer cells."
I'm not so thrilled with their idea of incorporating the active compound into nanotechnology at the moment. The science is still way too new and relatively untested to know the future health effects of this mode of administration. But then again, that's a major problem of ALL chemotherapy agents: they have the potential to kill any cell in your body that is proliferating, regardless of whether it should be or not.
IMHO, they should stick to what works pretty well right now. That is, I'd use some of our amazing immunotechnology to direct the agent to the proliferating cells. Mark my words: if they direct this compound to a tumor using nanotechnology alone, it will be another 15+ years before this agent gets on the market.
Oh well.... I guess we should all go out and buy Mermaid's hair for our tanks!
Here's the full link.
http://chinesemedicinenews.com/2008/02/11/new-anti-cancer-drug-maybe-from-sea-algae/
If anyone wants a copy of the actual article, which will be published in PNAS, I can probably get a copy to you.
I was researching the red cyanobacteria in saltwater tanks, and I ran across this article:
"A team of researchers has identified a potent new anti-cancer drug isolated from a toxic blue-green algae found in the South Pacific.
.......
The ScA compound was found in the cyanobacteria L. Majuscula, also known as “mermaid’s hair,” gathered off the coast of Fiji in the South Pacific by the laboratory of William Gerwick at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
A diverse team of researchers from UCSD’s Cancer Centre, School of Medicine, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Scripps worked to identify, screen and test marine compounds in vitro and in vivo. They found that ScA inhibits neovascularization, the formation of blood vessels that feed tumors, and also had a direct impact on tumour cell proliferation.
“The compound isn’t toxic to the cyanobacteria itself, but activates a ‘death pathway’, present in our cells,” said Stupack. “When the cells of the blood vessels that feed tumours become activated and proliferate, they become especially sensitive to this agent.”
Gerwick noted that if a normal-sized swimming pool full of cancer cells were treated with ScA, it would take only three milligrams – about the weight of a grain of rice – to kill all of the cancer cells."
I'm not so thrilled with their idea of incorporating the active compound into nanotechnology at the moment. The science is still way too new and relatively untested to know the future health effects of this mode of administration. But then again, that's a major problem of ALL chemotherapy agents: they have the potential to kill any cell in your body that is proliferating, regardless of whether it should be or not.
IMHO, they should stick to what works pretty well right now. That is, I'd use some of our amazing immunotechnology to direct the agent to the proliferating cells. Mark my words: if they direct this compound to a tumor using nanotechnology alone, it will be another 15+ years before this agent gets on the market.
Oh well.... I guess we should all go out and buy Mermaid's hair for our tanks!
Here's the full link.
http://chinesemedicinenews.com/2008/02/11/new-anti-cancer-drug-maybe-from-sea-algae/
If anyone wants a copy of the actual article, which will be published in PNAS, I can probably get a copy to you.