Researchers say they have discovered a chemical found in the sea coral which could be effective in treating cancer.
Scientists have been searching for the compound for more than 25 years after early studies in the 1990s suggested it could slow the growth of cancer cells. The researcher finally discovered the substance in a common type of soft coral on the coast of the American state of Florida.
A research team from the University of Utah confirmed the discovery. The team said their results could lead to widespread production of the substance for use in cancer drugs.
Researchers recently described their findings in a study in a publication Natural chemical biology.
The use of natural substances to treat disease is not new, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Compounds from all kinds of organisms - including marine life, snakes, spiders and other animals - have long been studied and tested as possible treatments for many health conditions.
As many corals remain in one place, they have developed chemical defenses to protect themselves from other forms of marine life that could endanger them, NOAA reports. Scientists are studying such chemicals in an effort to find effective medical uses.
But the main obstacle to these efforts was the difficulty of collecting enough of these compounds to conduct effective research.
The chemical used in the latest study is called eleutherobin. It was discovered in soft corals near Australia. Scientists reported in the 1990s that this chemical has anti-cancer properties.
The researchers involved in the study said the chemical could play a role in breaking down important cellular structures. It is used by soft corals as a defense against predators. But scientific studies suggest that the compound also promises to reduce the growth of cancer cells.
Studies have prompted scientists to continue searching for large amounts of chemicals that would be necessary to conduct additional testing and perhaps develop new cancer drugs. But those efforts have been unsuccessful for many years.
Then a scientist who worked on the University of Utah team, Paul Scesa, found soft coral in the ocean off the coast of Florida that contained eleutherobin.
The team tried to find out if the corals made the chemical themselves or produced it symbiotic organisms living inside corals. Shesa said in a statement that for him, “it makes no sense” that the union will be produced only by other organisms.
His team knew, for example, that some soft corals do not have symbiotic organisms, and yet their bodies contain the same collection of chemicals.
To test their theory, the researchers tried to find out how corals produce the compound. To do that, they had to study corals genetic code to find out if it contains instructions on how to produce the chemical.
This process is possible through modern methods of studying the DNA of organisms. DNA is present in almost all living things and is a carrier of genetic information.
The next step was difficult because the scientists did not know what the instructions for making the chemical should look like.
But they reported being able to identify pieces of DNA in corals that were very close to genetic instructions for similar compounds in other kinds of. Then they could give those instructions to the bacteria that are grown in the laboratory. The team reported that bacterial microorganisms were able to copy the first steps in making eleutherobin.
“This is the first time we’ve been able to do this with any lead drug on Earth,” said lead researcher Eric Schmidt. He is a professor of medical chemistry at the University of Utah Health.
Researchers say their experiments have shown that it should be possible to produce the chemical in the laboratory. This could lead to the possible widespread production of new cancer drugs.
Shesa said that he hopes that one day he will be able to hand over the medicine to the doctor. “I think it’s coming from the bottom of the ocean bench next to the bed, “he said.
I’m Brian Linn.
Brian Lynn wrote this story, based on reports from the University of Utah for health, chemical biology of nature and NOAA.
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The words in this story
coral - n. hard or soft, usually pink or white substance produced by a species of very small marine animal
predator - n. an animal that hunts and kills other animals for food
symbiotic - adj. includes two species of animals or plants, each of which provides the conditions necessary for the existence of the other
genetic code –N. information from DNA or RNA used to make the body’s proteins
kinds of - n. a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants
bench - n. a long table for doing business