Anti - cancer vine
A compound capable of destroying cancer cells has been found in an African vine
Vladimir Guillen, Naked Science
A team of researchers from Japan, Germany and the Democratic Republic of the Congo has identified an alkaloid compound in the Congolese form of a vine that suppresses the survival of pancreatic cancer cells in the absence of nutrients. The work was published in the Journal of Natural Products.
It is known that pancreatic cancer cells spread very quickly and aggressively, causing a chronic lack of essential nutrients and oxygen due to high metabolic needs combined with inefficient blood supply.
Thus, unlike normal tissues, the microenvironment of a pancreatic tumor is characterized by low levels of nutrients and oxygen. The ability of pancreatic cancer cells to tolerate these extreme conditions, showing excellent resistance to starvation, is called "asceticism".
The anti–ascetic strategy is a new approach to the discovery of anticancer drugs aimed at identifying strong agents that mainly suppress the survival of tumor cells during a limited supply of nutrients and oxygen.
"Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer with less than a 5% survival rate in five years," the authors of the study claim. – Due to the fact that these cancer cells spread so aggressively, they deplete nutrients and oxygen in the tumor area. Whereas most cells would die in such extreme conditions, pancreatic cancer cells survive by activating intracellular Akt/mTOR signaling. Some scientists are looking for compounds with anti-ascetic properties that upset this signaling. Substances that are preferably toxic to cancer cells in the absence of nutrients are called "anti-ascetic compounds"."
Scientists isolated and characterized a new anti-ascetic compound from the branches of the Congolese liana Ancistrocladus likoko. The new molecule, called ancistrolikokine E3, is an alkaloid (a class of naturally occurring compounds with nitrogen content). The compound has proven itself well as an anti-cancer agent in the absence of nutrients. It caused serious changes in cell morphology, leading to cell death. Moreover, the compound significantly suppressed the migration of pancreatic cancer cells and the formation of a colony.
The proposed mechanism of action of ancistrolikokine E3 against human pancreatic cancer cells PANC-1 / © Awal et al.
The researchers will continue to study ancistrolikokine E3 and hope that it will help in the further fight against cancer.
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