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Rare byproduct of marine bacteria kills cancer cells by snipping their DNA:
Yale University researchers have determined how a scarce molecule produced by marine bacteria can kill cancer cells, paving the way for the development of new, low-dose chemotherapies.
The molecule, lomaiviticin A, was previously shown to be lethal to cultured human cancer cells, but the mechanism of its operation remained unsolved for well over a decade. In a series of experiments, Yale scientists Seth Herzon, Peter Glazer, and colleagues show that the molecule nicks, cleaves, and ultimately destroys cancer cells' DNA, preventing replication.
"DNA is one of the primary targets of anticancer agents, and cleavage of both DNA chains is the most potent form of DNA damage," said Herzon, professor of chemistry. "But few anticancer agents are able to directly cleave DNA. The discovery that lomaiviticin A is capable of this suggests it could be very useful as a novel chemotherapy, possibly at low doses."
The abstract and paper can be found here.
(Score: 1) by MozeeToby on Tuesday May 13 2014, @03:35PM
Virtually all cancer therapies rely on the fact that cancer cells are dividing out of control. If you could go into a cancerous human and kill every single cell that divides over a 24 hour period, you'd end up with a very sick person but one with very few living cancer cells. It's virtually certain that the damage occurs during the division process, the same way it does for radiation and current chemo treatments.