Scientists at the University of Illinois Chicago have turned an unlikely source into a potential new weapon against cancer: bacteria that naturally live inside tumors. They developed a peptide called aurB, inspired by a bacterial protein, that infiltrates cancer cells and effectively cuts off their energy supply by targeting the mitochondria, the cells’ power plants.
Scientists turned tumor-dwelling bacteria into a powerful cancer-fighting therapy that effectively cuts off tumors’ energy supply.
Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) have created an experimental cancer treatment based on bacteria that naturally live inside tumors.
In preclinical studies involving prostate cancer, the therapy delivered striking results when paired with radiation treatment. The approach halted tumor growth by targeting the cancer cells’ energy supply. The treatment is built from a small fragment of a bacterial protein called aurB. According to findings published in the journal Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, aurB disrupted energy production within tumor cell mitochondria, effectively depriving tumors of the fuel they need to grow.
In preclinical studies involving prostate cancer, the therapy delivered striking results when paired with radiation treatment. The approach halted tumor growth by targeting the cancer cells’ energy supply. The treatment is built from a small fragment of a bacterial protein called aurB. According to findings published in the journal Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, aurB disrupted energy production within tumor cell mitochondria, effectively depriving tumors of the fuel they need to grow.
Source: ScienceDaily.com
