• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Friday, March 31, 2023
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News

Scientists find a molecule to fight chemoresistant cancer

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
November 30, 2016
in Science News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram
IMAGE

Credit: MIPT's Press Office

A team of scientists from N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), N. K. Kol'tsov Institute of Developmental Biology of the RAS, and Immune Pharmaceuticals LLC led by MIPT's Prof. Alexander Kiselyov has synthesized an antitumor compound that could be used to fight chemoresistant cancer. The research findings were published in the European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

The scientists synthesized a range of new compounds and evaluated their anticancer effect using sea urchin embryos and human cancer cell lines. One molecule proved to be potent and selective enough to have an effect even on a chemoresistant cancer–ovarian carcinoma. The synthesized compounds belong to a class known as aminoisothiazoles.

"We made the decision to experiment with aminoisothiazoles because compounds of this class exhibit a diverse range of pharmacological and biological activities. This led us to expect that, with the appropriate functional groups, they might act as anticancer agents," comments Alexander Kiselyov.

The proposed approach enables a straightforward synthesis of the target compounds in high yields. The developed reaction sequence involves only six steps and is based on readily available reagents. To assess antitumor activity, the researchers used in vitro assays based on human cancer cells, as well as the in vivo sea urchin embryo model developed and validated by the team earlier.

Of the synthesized 37 compounds, 12 molecules were found to reduce the proliferation rate of cancer cells with different potencies or to prevent their division completely leading to the death of cancer cells. The effect of these antitumor compounds is attributed to their capacity to destroy microtubules, which are involved in cell division (mitosis). Microtubules are made of a protein called tubulin, which can be targeted by the anticancer agents, causing the degradation of the microtubule structure.

The potency of the synthesized compounds targeting microtubules was further assessed using sea urchin embryos, as well as a panel of human cancer cells from breast adenocarcinoma, melanoma, ovarian and lung tumors. Sea urchin embryos have been shown by the team to be a good model to study specific tubulin-binding agents. They cause embryos to rapidly rotate, as opposed to moving in the ordinary way (cf. the left and right sides of the animation). This effect can be easily observed using a light microscope enabling the scientists to evaluate the anticancer potential of a compound within a short amount of time. Moreover, the team found sea urchin embryos to be more sensitive toward the identified agents than cancer cells. A difference between the duration of the mitotic cycles of sea urchin embryos and cancer cells (40 minutes vs. 24 hours) may lead to distinct effects of the small molecules on tubulin dynamics and could thus account for this phenomenon.The molecule featuring 3-thiophene- and para-methoxyphenyl substituents was identified to be the most potent anticancer agent in the studies. According to the researchers, it is this combination of functional groups, as well as the unique topology of the molecule that are responsible for its unique activity. Specifically, the new agent displays antitubulin properties as it blocks cell division by affecting microtubules and thus can destroy the chemoresistant cells of ovarian carcinoma.

The scientists plan to use crystallography data and structure modeling techniques to study microtubule degradation in more detail in order to identify the sites, or "spots" where the active compounds bind to tubulin.

In their earlier study, the researchers used substances isolated from dill and parsley seeds to synthesize glaziovianin A, another anticancer compound, along with its structural analogs.

###

Media Contact

Asya Shepunova
[email protected]
7-916-813-0267
@phystech

https://mipt.ru/english/

############

Story Source: Materials provided by Scienmag

Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Flameless impingement oven

Cookin’ with gas: UWO professor earns patent for flameless industrial oven

March 31, 2023
Lamprey Swimming - Modeling Study

After spinal cord injury, kinesthetic sense helps restore movement, model suggests

March 31, 2023

Plastic transistor amplifies biochemical sensing signal

March 31, 2023

Study shows ketamine could be beneficial for treating brain injury in children

March 31, 2023
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • ChatPandaGPT

    Insilico Medicine brings AI-powered “ChatPandaGPT” to its target discovery platform

    68 shares
    Share 27 Tweet 17
  • Extinction of steam locomotives derails assumptions about biological evolution

    49 shares
    Share 20 Tweet 12
  • Northern and southern resident orcas hunt differently, which may help explain the decline of southern orcas

    44 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 11
  • Skipping breakfast may compromise the immune system

    43 shares
    Share 17 Tweet 11

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Cookin’ with gas: UWO professor earns patent for flameless industrial oven

After spinal cord injury, kinesthetic sense helps restore movement, model suggests

Plastic transistor amplifies biochemical sensing signal

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 48 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In