From lethal pathogen, to promising anti -cancer therapy. It is the history of the Aspergillus Flavus, a mushroom that infesters cereals and legumes and can grow within tombs and ancient structures favored by humidity. His spores, once breathed, can infect the man with even fatal outcomes. But at the same time, they seem to hide the secret to develop a new class of anticancer, which proved to be promising for the treatment of leukemia and other serious forms of cancer, in a study just published on Nature Chemical Biology.
The curse of Tutankhamon
Aspergillus Flavus is a mushroom that grows in hot and humid climates. It can infect many types of crops, reducing surrender and producing extremely toxic toxins for men and animals in case of consumption of contaminated foods. It can also directly infect the human organism, and is the second cause of roughness, the disease of the respiratory system that causes about two million half of deaths every year.
It is known for causing the first mycotoxins epidemic never documented, killing over 10 thousand turkeys in an English farm during 1960. But also as a possible con-Causa of a famous mysterious event: the death of Lord Carnarvon and other Egyptologists who participated in the expedition that discovered the highly refined tomb of Tutankhamon. Deaths attributed by the legend to the curse of the pharaoh, and that at least in the case of Lord Carnarvon, the only one to die actually a few months after the opening of the tomb, could instead be linked to an infection by Aspergillus Flavus, whose spores can accumulate in high quantities in wet structures and darkly isolated from the outside. A similar situation was repeated, for example, in 1970, when ten scientists died after visiting the tomb of Casimiro IV of Poland, infested – and in this case it was ascertained – precisely by the spores of Aspergillus Flavus.
New anti -cancer molecules
Although they can prove to be lethal enemies, mushrooms have always been an important source of therapeutic molecules. Like penicillin, the first antibiotic never discovered, isolated from the mold of the Penicillum genre in 1940. The authors of the new study focused on more complex molecules, known as rebuzomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (ripps), substances with a powerful biological action is a myriad of potential uses, in medicine but in medicine Alone.
Starting from previous research that identified the mushrooms of the Aspergillus genre as promising candidates for the discovery of new Ripps, the authors of the study analyzed the chemical compounds produced by a dozen species of these mushrooms, showing that Aspergillus Flavus actually produces several molecules of this class. In total, the researchers managed to purify four new Ripps, baptizing them asperigimicine. They then tested them in vitro on leuchemic cells, showing that two of them have a powerful anticancer effect.
That’s not all, because by modifying one of the molecules with the addition of a lipide, the researchers have obtained a potential drug with an even more powerful action, which at least in Vitro rival with those of some of the first -line therapies used today in the treatment of leukemia. According to their analysis, the action of these Ripps is due to the ability to interfere with the replication of cancer cells. The next step will now be to test the new asperigimicine on animal models, to confirm their anticancer effectiveness and, in case of success, work on their experimentation also in human patients.