AsianScientist (Jun. 23, 2016) – With help from a herbal supplement, scientists from Korea have successfully inhibited the growth of colon tumors in mice with mismatch repair deficiency.
The research team, headed by the Institute for Basic Science’s director Professor Myung Kyungjae, published their findings in Cancer Research. It is a significant breakthrough for the future treatment of colon cancer patients, specifically for those with DNA mismatch repair (MMR) deficient tumors.
DNA is intrinsic to all life on Earth. Every minute of every day, our DNA is constantly evolving and susceptible to defects. During DNA replication, mistakes that arise are normally repaired by DNA MMR, which will recognize the newly-synthesized DNA ‘daughter’ strand from the ‘parent’ DNA template. But if this mechanism fails, the mutation has the potential to lead to cancer.
Cancer cells deficient in DNA MMR are resistant to most conventional chemotherapeutic drugs. The research team hypothesized that baicalein, a small molecule used as a herbal supplement to enhance liver health in some Asian counties, could be effective in treating colon cancers with mismatch repair deficiency.
In a mouse study, a control group was fed a normal diet and an experimental group was fed the same diet with added baicalein. The mice were induced with colon tumors and exposed to a constant dose of baicalein over a two-week period.
In the mice fed baicalein, the cancerous cells self-destructed in a tightly-regulated cell suicide process known as apoptosis. To assess the effect of baicalein on tumor size over time, the researchers repeated the exercise over a number of weeks; baicalein doses continued to significantly shrink the tumors.
Baicalein’s mechanism of action is to bind to mismatched DNA and prevent an interaction between MutSα, a protein that blocks carcinogenesis, and CHK2, a tumor suppressor.
“This research finding has great potential to target cancer therapy for patients who are diagnosed with mismatch repair deficient tumors. These particular types of tumors cover ten percent of colon cancers,” said Myung.
The article can be found at: Zhang et al. (2016) A Novel Chemotherapeutic Agent To Treat Tumors with DNA Mismatch Repair Deficiencies.
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Source: Institute for Basic Science.
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