British researchers have discovered one of the secrets behind a traditional Chinese medicine made from an orange caterpillar fungus, and are touting its potential for combating cancer.
The mechanism that triggers anti-inflammatory and other health benefits within the compound called cordycepin were not understood in western medicine—until now.
New research into the chemical produced by the caterpillar fungus has revealed how it interacts with genes to interrupt the very cell growth signals that drive uncontrolled cancer growth.
Learning how it interrupts the cell growth signals that are overactive in cancer is an important step towards developing new drugs that could be less damaging to healthy tissues compared to many available treatments.
Scientists from the University of Nottingham’s School of Pharmacy have been studying how the parasitic fungi could affect a range of diseases, and published their research in the journal FEBS Letters.
Cordycepin, the compound produced by the Cordyceps militaris fungus that infects caterpillars and is sold as a health supplement, has shown promise as a cancer medicine in a range of studies, but until now it has been unclear how it works.
Using high-throughput techniques the research team measured the effects of cordycepin on the activity of thousands of genes in multiple cell lines. The research compared the effects of cordycepin with those from other treatments deposited in databases and showed that it works by acting on the growth inducing pathways of the cell in all cases.
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By studying what happens to cordycepin inside the cell, the team confirmed that cordycepin is converted to cordycepin triphosphate, an analogue of the cell’s energy carrier ATP. Cordycepin triphosphate was shown to be the likely cause of the effects on cell growth, and therefore the molecule that can directly affect cancer cells.
“We have been researching the effects of cordycepin on a range of diseases for a number of years and with each step we get closer to understanding how it could be used as an effective treatment,” said Dr. Cornelia de Moor in the University’s School of Pharmacy, who led the research.
“One of the exciting things to have been happening is that it has become easier and less expensive to do these very large experiments, so we were able to examine thousands of genes at the same time.
The data confirms that cordycepin is a great starting point for novel cancer medicines and explains its beneficial effects.
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For instance, derivatives of cordycepin could aim to produce the triphosphate form of the drug to have the same effect. In addition, the data will help with monitoring the effects of cordycepin in patients, as our data indicates particular genes whose activity reliably responds to cordycepin, which could for instance be measured in blood cells.”
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