A viagra-based panacea?
Scientists: Viagra may have anti-cancer and antimicrobial properties
Viagra and similar drugs may have unexpectedly good anti-cancer and antibacterial properties due to the fact that they block the work of certain "packer" proteins used by microbes and cancer cells, according to an article published in the journal DNA and Cell Biology (Booth et al., GRP78 / BiP /HSPA5 / Dna K is a universal therapeutic target for human disease, open access until April 9; Viagra in Combination with New Drugs Can Block Chaperone Proteins, with Anti–Cancer, Antibacterial, and other Therapeutic Effects is published on the website of Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers – VM).
"Drugs like Celebrex and Viagra can be easily bought at almost any pharmacy, and they are considered relatively safe. The potential advantages of using them, if the experiments described in the article are applicable in practice, can cause a revolution in science. In theory, they can be used to suppress "tenacious" infections, destroy cancer and treat neurodegenerative diseases, starting with Parkinson's disease and ending with Alzheimer's and Huntington's," commented Carol Reiss, editor–in-chief of the journal.
A group of molecular biologists led by Laurence Booth from the University of Virginia in Richmond (USA) made this discovery relatively accidentally – initially, scientists searched and analyzed data collected during research and experiments with the HSPA5 protein.
It belongs to the category of so–called chaperones - special cellular enzymes that are responsible for the correct "folding" of newly assembled protein molecules and their transportation. In recent years, biologists have increasingly discovered that disorders in the work of HSPA5 and other molecules of this class are associated with a whole set of diseases, cancer and other health problems.
Studying the results of experiments related to HSPA5, the authors of the article drew attention to the fact that the work of this protein is very strongly influenced by the experimental drug OSU-03012, built on the basis of the anti-inflammatory drug celecoxib ("Celebrex"). Until recently, this substance was undergoing clinical trials as an anti-cancer drug, but in recent years its testing has been stopped.
Interested in OSU-03012, Booth and his colleagues conducted a series of their own experiments, in which they found out that the combination of this substance and "Viagra" or other similar molecules almost completely suppresses the assembly of HSPA5 molecules, causing them to quickly break down. Most interestingly, this mixture works not only in human cells, but also inside bacteria, whose DnaK protein is very similar in structure to HSPA5.
As further experiments have shown, the suppression of HSPA5 carries with it a lot of potentially beneficial consequences – for example, bacteria, including the causative agent of gonorrhea and syphilis, become more vulnerable to the action of antibiotics, and cancer cells lose their invulnerability to chemotherapy. In addition, the combination of Viagra and OSU-03012 slows down the accumulation of "protein debris" in neurons, the appearance of which causes Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.
Booth and his colleagues emphasize that all these striking results are only the product of laboratory studies that have yet to be confirmed in clinical trials. For this reason, they advise not to run to the pharmacy for "Viagra" and "Celebrex" today, but to wait for the completion of the verification of their safety and effectiveness in the coming years.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru12.03.2015