A newly developed therapy inspired by bacteria residing within tumors offers a different way to combat cancer by targeting how tumor cells produce energy.
Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago have designed a new cancer treatment by borrowing a strategy from bacteria that live inside tumors. Instead of attacking cancer cells directly, the approach targets how those cells generate energy.
In prostate cancer models, the therapy delivered its strongest results when combined with radiation, a standard treatment. Tumor growth slowed dramatically. The key component is a lab-made peptide called aurB, derived from a bacterial protein. Once inside cancer cells, aurB disrupts the mitochondria, the structures responsible for producing energy.
Targeting the Cell’s Energy Factories
“The mitochondria are very important for a cell to survive; they are the energy factories,” said Tohru Yamada, senior author on the study, associate professor in the departments of surgery and biomedical engineering at UIC and a member of the University of Illinois Cancer Center.
“Many cancer cells exhibit altered mitochondrial number and activity, because a cancer cell has to grow aggressively and rapidly. Therefore, the mitochondria would be an ideal target for cancer therapy.”
Scientists have long known that tumors contain bacteria as part of the tumor microenvironment. More recently, researchers have begun investigating these microbes as possible sources of cancer-fighting compounds.
Earlier work from Yamada’s lab identified a bacterial protein called a cupredoxin that could suppress tumor growth. Cupredoxins are copper-containing proteins that help move electrons between other proteins.
The team developed a peptide drug from this protein and tested it extensively, including in clinical trials involving adults and in studies of brain cancer in children.
