Toxic fungus linked to ‘pharoah's curse' could help fight 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.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
2 days ago
- The Independent
Stone Age humans were picky about which rocks they used for making tools, study finds
Early human ancestors during the Old Stone Age were more picky about the rocks they used for making tools than previously known, according to research published Friday. Not only did these early people make tools, they had a mental picture of where suitable raw materials were located and planned ahead to use them, traveling long distances. By around 2.6 million years ago, early humans had developed a method of pounding rocks together to chip off sharp flakes that could be used as blades for butchering meat. This allowed them to feast on large animals like hippos that gathered near a freshwater spring at the Nyayanga archaeological site in Kenya. 'But hippo skin is really tough" — and not all rocks were suitable for creating blades sharp enough to pierce hippo skin, said co-author Thomas Plummer, a paleoanthropologist at Queens College of the City University of New York. Co-author Emma Finestone of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History added: 'When we think about stone tools, not every rock is equal in terms of the quality of tools.' At the Nyayanga site, researchers found durable blades made of quartzite, a rock material that they traced to streambeds and other locations around 8 miles (13 kilometers) away. The new research appears in the journal Science Advances. 'This suggests they've got a mental map of where different resources are distributed across the landscape,' said co-author Rick Potts of the Smithsonian 's Human Origins Program. Previously, researchers had assumed the stones may have been found within just a mile or so of the freshwater spring site. The new study shows that 'these early humans were thinking ahead. This is probably the earliest time we have in the archaeological record an indication of that behavior,' said Eric Delson, a paleoanthropologist at the American Museum of Natural History, who was not involved in the research. The oldest previously known example of early human ancestors transporting raw materials for tool-making was about 600,000 years later than the Nyayanga site. Researchers said it's unclear who these early toolmakers were — whether members of the Homo genus or a related but extinct branch of the family tree, such as Paranthropus. Homo sapiens did not arise until much later, around 300,000 years ago. But the knack for seeking out the best raw materials to make simple technology dates back nearly 3 million years. 'We today are a species that's still technology-dependent — using tools to spread around the world and adapt to different environments,' said Finestone. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Skeletons with Sub-saharan grandparents found in Dorset and Kent
A boy and girl who lived in medieval England likely had grandparents from Africa, according to new findings by DNA from the skeletons - which are over a thousand years old - was tested by scientists to reveal their boy was found in a medieval cemetery in Dorset, and the girl was found at cemetery in archaeologists said they were surprised to find early medieval skeletons with grandparents from so far away. What did the scientists find? The scientists originally tested the DNA of 23 bodies that were found in a medieval they studied their DNA most of the skeletons buried there had either northern European or western British and Irish scientists were amazed to find that one person at each cemetery had a recent ancestor from west fact, the team found that between 20 to 40 percent of the ancestry in the skeletons was from sub-Saharan Africa. They even revealed that the individuals had similar DNA to groups living in west Africa right now, such as the Yoruba, Mende, Mandenka and Esan groups. 'A diverse population' According to researchers, the findings suggest that medieval Britain may have been more diverse than once of the researchers, Dr Edwards, said the results suggested "a diverse population with far-flung connections who were, nonetheless, fully integrated into the fabric of daily life." Another of the team, Dr Sayer, said the finding was "fascinating" because the children were buried in very different places, but had such similar DNA.
Reuters
3 days ago
- Reuters
Schrödinger stops development of blood cancer therapy after two patient deaths
Aug 14 (Reuters) - Schrödinger (SDGR.O), opens new tab said on Thursday it has stopped the development of an experimental drug after the death of two patients with a type of blood cancer in an early-stage trial, sending its shares down nearly 17% before the bell. The company was testing the therapy, SGR-2921, in patients with high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes, a group of blood cancers in which the bone marrow doesn't produce enough healthy blood cells, and its more serious form - acute myeloid leukemia. The drug was considered to have contributed to the deaths of two AML patients in the trial, the company said. "While disappointing given the early clinical activity observed, we believe this is the right decision for patients," Chief Medical Officer Margaret Dugan said. In pre-clinical trial, the therapy showed responses against the cancer, which suggested SGR-2921 could ultimately be used in combination with standard of care treatments, the company said. The experimental drug was designed to work by blocking CDC7, a protein that helps cancer cells repair DNA damage during replication. By inhibiting this protein, the drug causes cancer cells to accumulate fatal levels of DNA damage.
