DIVING NEWS ITEM

Toxin from Coral Reef can be Anti-cancer Drug

THURSDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2007

A new molecular tool was discovered to help scientists transform a toxin from coral-reef bacteria into a cancer drug.

The researchers from University of Michigan (U-M) and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego found new functions of a well-known family of proteins in many organisms.

The researchers found out that the first links in the curacin-A chain include a member of the GNAT family of proteins which is a group of enzymes that is responsible in gene regulation, hormone synthesis and antibiotic resistance.

The GNAT enzyme also helps initiate the chain-building process that forms curacin A. Curacin A is among the chemical compounds that can be pulled from marine organisms, living in coral reef sediments, blue-green algae, sponges and soft corals. It is the leading anti-cancer drug candidate which is first derived from a Caribbean coral reef cyanobacterium, L. majuscula, in 1994 by Gerwick's group. In the laboratory, curacin A is effective against colon, kidney and breast cancer cell lines.

For more details, please visit www.sciencedaily.com.

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