by Manaswinee Bora
The vast ocean is full of undiscovered secrets and dark mysteries. Recently, a study conducted by the University of Utah unveiled one of these mysteries. The researchers found that soft corals, which are easily available throughout the ocean bed, synthesize a natural anti-cancer compound. Drug scientists had been looking for the source of this promising compound for the last 25 years.
(Image from freepikcompany.com)
Eric Schmidt, Ph.D., professor of medicinal chemistry at U of U Health headed this study along with Paul Scesa, Ph.D., postdoctoral scientist and first author, and Zhenjian Lin, Ph.D., assistant research professor. According to him, "This is the first time we have been able to do this with any drug lead on Earth." A second research team headed by Bradley Moore, Ph.D., from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, further showed that corals make related molecules, thus, further validating this result.
Soft corals, also known as flexible corals, represent underwater plants. They have thousands of anti-inflammatory agents, antibiotics and other drug-like compounds. Accessing enough of these compounds was a major issue which according to Schidmt, will be resolved using this new technique. This sought-after anti-cancer compound was discovered by Scesa, in a common species of soft coral in the Florida coast. Next, they had to find if the coral’s genetic code had instructions to synthesize the compound. The problem was the scientists didn’t have the instructions to make the required compound. Quoting Dr. Schidmt, “It's like going into the dark and looking for an answer where you don't know the question.” Addressing the issue, the group of scientists started finding the coral DNA regions resembling similar genetic instructions. After finding these, they programmed lab-grown bacteria to follow the instructions. This resulted in the microorganisms replicating the first steps of making the potential cancer therapeutic compound. Furthermore, this study also proved that soft corals are a source of eleutherobin, a compound with anti-cancer properties.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220523115509.htm
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