Anti-CancerWords
In the pipeline...
Researchers at Hopkins have created a hybrid molecule that causes cancer cells to self-destruct. The recipe: a sugar + a fatty acid called butyrate.
Butyrate slows the spread ofcancer cells, which scientists have known for 20 years. Unfortunately, attempts to use this molecule as a general drug for tumors haven't worked well because of the need for exceedingly high doses.
To get around the dosage problem, scientists have tried to make butyrate more potent by modifying it or joining it to other compounds. Results have been disappointing though; there are toxic side effects associated with partner molecules.
Now, Gopalan Sampathkumar, a postdoctoral fellow in JHU's Department of Biomedical Engineering, has found that when butyrate is matched with just the right sugar, the resultant hybrid molecule acts like a cancer-killing weapon, wiping out every cancer cell in its immediate path within about 15 days.
This is not the first time scientists have tried combining butyrate with sugars, but the sugars used previously just eased the delivery process, helping the hybrid molecule get into the cancer cell. Sampathkumar was more selective. He chose a sugar called cetyl-D-mannosamine, or ManNAc, which acts like ammunition in the cancer-killing process. It helps enzymes to resume the normal assembly of sugar molecules, which often goes awry when cancer occurs.
Meanwhile, the butyrate half of the hybrid molecule corrects aberrant gene expression. The result is a double attack, triggering just what the doctors ordered: cancer cell suicide.
More to come after I talk with the docs. This hasn't yet been tested in humans or animals and I'd like to know what the prospects are for this cancer-killing strategy in our generation.
.MGW.
Researchers at Hopkins have created a hybrid molecule that causes cancer cells to self-destruct. The recipe: a sugar + a fatty acid called butyrate.
Butyrate slows the spread ofcancer cells, which scientists have known for 20 years. Unfortunately, attempts to use this molecule as a general drug for tumors haven't worked well because of the need for exceedingly high doses.
To get around the dosage problem, scientists have tried to make butyrate more potent by modifying it or joining it to other compounds. Results have been disappointing though; there are toxic side effects associated with partner molecules.
Now, Gopalan Sampathkumar, a postdoctoral fellow in JHU's Department of Biomedical Engineering, has found that when butyrate is matched with just the right sugar, the resultant hybrid molecule acts like a cancer-killing weapon, wiping out every cancer cell in its immediate path within about 15 days.
This is not the first time scientists have tried combining butyrate with sugars, but the sugars used previously just eased the delivery process, helping the hybrid molecule get into the cancer cell. Sampathkumar was more selective. He chose a sugar called cetyl-D-mannosamine, or ManNAc, which acts like ammunition in the cancer-killing process. It helps enzymes to resume the normal assembly of sugar molecules, which often goes awry when cancer occurs.
Meanwhile, the butyrate half of the hybrid molecule corrects aberrant gene expression. The result is a double attack, triggering just what the doctors ordered: cancer cell suicide.
More to come after I talk with the docs. This hasn't yet been tested in humans or animals and I'd like to know what the prospects are for this cancer-killing strategy in our generation.
.MGW.
posted by Meagan G at
1:17 PM
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