Toxic fungus linked to ‘pharoah's curse' could help fight cancer
A toxic fungus linked to the mysterious deaths of archaeologists who opened ancient tombs including that of Tutankhamun could be used to make a drug to tackle blood cancer.
The theory of a 'pharoah's curse' grew after a series of untimely deaths struck down several members of the team who excavated Tutankhamun's tomb in the 1920s.
In the 1970s, 12 scientists entered a tomb in Poland that belonged to Casimir IV, who was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447. Within weeks, ten of them were dead.
It emerged that the tomb contained Aspergillus flavus, a toxic crop fungus with yellow spores that can lead to lung infections, particularly in those with weakened immune systems.
However, researchers have found that the fungus could contain one of a class of peptides known as RiPPs, pronounced 'rips', that can be modified to attack cancer.
'Purifying these chemicals is difficult,' said Dr Qiuyue Nie from the University of Pennslyvania, an author of the paper published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology. 'The synthesis of these compounds is complicated, but that's also what gives them this remarkable bioactivity.'
A number of these RiPPs had been found in bacteria but few had been found in fungi. They found that a particular protein within the Aspergillus flavus fungus was a promising candidate.
Howard Carter, the British archaeologist, led the team that explored Tutankhamun's tomb. His benefactor, Lord Carnarvon, died six weeks after they entered the tomb
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER BILL WARHURST, COLOURISED BY UNSEEN HISTORIES/JORDAN J LLOYD AND JOSHUA BARRETT
'Even with no modification, when mixed with human cancer cells, the asperigimycins [protein] demonstrated medical potential. Two of the four variants had potent effects against leukaemia cells,' the research showed.
After adding a fatty molecule to another variant, they found that it worked as well as 'two drugs that have been used for decades to treat leukaemia'.
It appears that the protein may disrupt the division of the cancer cells.
'Fungi gave us penicillin,' said Sherry Gao, a professor at the university. 'These results show that many more medicines derived from natural products remain to be found.'
It could be many years before a drug can be produced for testing and use in humans, however.
'The next step is to test asperigimycins in animal models, with the hope of one day moving to human clinical trials,' the researchers said.
'Nature has given us this incredible pharmacy,' Gao said. 'It's up to us to uncover its secrets. As engineers, we're excited to keep exploring, learning from nature and using that knowledge to design better solutions.'
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