Synthetic briostatins
Artificial bryostatins capable of treating cancer and HIV have been synthesized
Sergey Kolenov, Hi-tech+
Bryostatin molecules, which are found in the organisms of some marine invertebrates, are considered promising drugs for the treatment of a number of diseases. Unfortunately, the human body does not tolerate these compounds very well, which, moreover, are very expensive. The solution may be synthetic analogues of bryostatins created at Stanford.
The mossy Bugula neritina seems to be a completely unremarkable marine animal leading a sedentary lifestyle. However, his body produces bryostatins, which allow manipulating the activity of genes. According to researchers, they can be used to treat cancer, HIV, Alzheimer's disease and a number of other diseases.
But it is impossible to isolate sufficient amounts of briostatins from natural sources. To get 18 grams of the substance, it is necessary to process 14 tons of mosses. This makes briostatin 350,000 times more expensive than gold.
In 2017, experts from Stanford University created a laboratory analogue of these molecules. And recently, for the first time, the team synthesized bryostatins that differ from natural ones.
Experiments have confirmed that modified versions of the molecules cope with the destruction of cancer cells better than the originals. In addition, they should be better tolerated by the human body.
In the second study, specialists were able to create drugs with delayed action based on briostatins. Experiments with animals injected with cells from HIV patients have shown that such compounds work more efficiently and cause fewer side effects.
Article by Hardman et al. Synthesis and evaluation of designed PKC modulators for enhanced cancer immunotherapy is published in the journal Nature Communications – VM.
According to the authors, these two studies will open the way to the development of new ways of using briostatins in medicine. This will turn promising results into real therapies.
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