Latest news with #AspergillusFlavus
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Health
- News.com.au
Inside the deadly curse of King Tut's tomb
The curse of King Tut's tomb is back – with a twist. Tutankhamun was a minor Egyptian pharaoh. The Boy King left barely a mark on history's page and even that was expunged by his political opponents – until his fabulously wealthy tomb was discovered in 1922. Aspergillus flavus is a common toxic fungus. It rises out of soil to spoil farm produce. It clings to indoor surfaces. However, a recent discovery has revealed a wealth of medical potential. Both the pharaoh and the mould, however, have a serious blemish to their reputation. And that's because of wild speculation surrounding the deaths of those who unsealed his sepulchre. Did a spiritual spell lay dormant for 3243 years, only to be triggered when British archaeologist Howard Carter broke the seal to see 'wonderful things'? Or was, as those seeking a more earthly explanation believed, a malicious mould lurking in the shadows – ready to wreak havoc among all those who dared disturb its rest? Both, it turns out, have been falsely accused. Now, just as the treasures of Tutankhamun have enlightened millions to the wonders of the ancient world, Aspergillus flavus may be on the brink of being redeemed. Scientists probing its long-neglected properties have discovered it could ultimately help save the lives of millions of leukaemia sufferers. A roaring 20s conspiracy theory It was a fascinating concept: An ancient curse wreaking havoc in defence of the dead. The story swept through a world still struggling to come to grips with the industrial-scale massacre of World War I. ' The story of a young man with a family who had died before his time resonated with many,' argues Egyptologist Claire Gilmour. 'Tutankhamun was a burst of glorious colour in a dark time, which came with the extra draw of the mysteries of the tomb and eternal life.' Everybody involved in the discovery and excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb was an instant celebrity. There was the mystery Boy King. The vindication of a persistent archaeologist. The playboy financier from Britain's landed gentry. Then, several months after the discovery, Lord Carnarvon died in Cairo at the age of 56. And the lights of that exotic city winked out. Famous Sherlock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle leapt on the seeds of inspiration: He told US media that 'an evil elemental' enslaved by ancient Egyptian priests to guard King Tut's remains could have been behind the Earl's demise. That triggered a swarm of speculation. And, as more associated with the tomb's opening (no matter how remotely) died, the frenzy grew. Prince Ali Kamel Fahmy Bey of Egypt was shot dead in 1923 by his French wife at the swanky Savoy Hotel in London. Sir Archibald Douglas Reid, 53, died from an unknown illness in 1924. The experimental radiologist is believed to have X-ray Tut's mummified remains days earlier. British colonial politician Sir Lee Stack was assassinated in Cairo in 1924. Excavator Arthur Mace died of arsenic poisoning in 1928. And Carnarvon's secretary, Richard Bethell, was smothered to death in his bed in 1929. Howard Carter dismissed talk of a curse as 'Tommy rot'. He argued only a handful of the hundreds associated with his work had died. And that was bound to happen anyway as the decades passed. Carter himself died in London in 1939 at the age of 64. He had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease – a cancer that attacks the immune system. Cut from the same mould Tombs are not healthy places. Depending on their environment, they can host a full spectrum of bacteria – including toxic Pseudomonas and Staphylococcus. Airtight containers, including sarcophagi, could release toxic fumes such as ammonia, formaldehyde, and hydrogen sulphide. Laboratory tests have also confirmed mummified Egyptian remains can carry mould. Two types, in particular, have been detected: Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus. Both are toxic. Allergic reactions include respiratory congestion and bleeding in the lungs. '(Aspergillus flavus) is infamous for its ability to survive in harsh environments, including the sealed chambers of ancient tombs, where it can lie dormant for thousands of years,' argues biomedical scientist Professor Justin Stebbing. Its spores are particularly damaging among people with weakened immune systems. 'This may explain the so-called 'curse' of King Tutankhamun and similar incidents, such as the deaths of several scientists who entered the tomb of Casimir IV in Poland in the 1970s,' the Professor adds. 'In both cases, investigations later found that A-flavus was present, and its toxins were probably responsible for the illnesses and deaths.' American railroad executive and financier George Gould fell sick immediately after visiting the Valley of the Kings excavation. He died of pneumonia a few months later. Was Gould a victim of a villainous mould that the medical journal The Lancet dubbed ' Pharaoh's Curse '? Despite being tried, convicted and sentenced, Aspergillus flavus has been given a chance to redeem its reputation. University of Pennsylvania researchers have discovered the fungus produces a unique type of molecule with the potential to fight cancer. 'Experiments revealed that asperigimycins probably disrupt the process of cell division in cancer cells,' Professor Stebbing explains. 'Cancer cells divide uncontrollably, and these compounds appear to block the formation of microtubules, the scaffolding inside cells that are essential for cell division.' These initial tests have so far proven the fungus-derived treatment is at least as effective as existing leukaemia-treating drugs. ' Fungi gave us penicillin,' the study's lead author, Sherry Gao, said in a press statement. 'These results show that many more medicines derived from natural products remain to be found.' Guilty, until proven innocent 'The oft-quoted curse 'Death will come on swift wings to him who disturbs the peace of the king' does not actually appear anywhere in (Tut's) tomb,' University of Bristol archaeologist Gilmour points out. 'There are real ancient Egyptian curses, but this was not one. Tutankhamun's curse stemmed from a media battle for readership.' Among the harshest curses found inside Tut's tomb was 'may he walk over his enemies'… stamped into the soles of his slippers. 'Research since has thoroughly debunked the idea that those present at the opening met an untimely end,' Gilmour adds. 'Only a handful of people who were there at the opening died within the next decade and Howard Carter, who would have been a primary target for a curse, died in 1939.' And Carter was partly to blame for the myth that grew to overwhelm his work. Amid the chaos and excitement of the discovery, he reportedly encouraged the idea of a curse as a means of scaring away aspiring pillagers and over-enthusiastic tourists. Then there's Lord Carnarvon. He only became a sponsor of archaeology after a high-speed car accident in 1901 compressed his lungs. The critically ill 5th Earl was advised to seek warmer weather. But that didn't protect him from blood poisoning after a cut became infected among Cairo's less than sanitary conditions (and frequent power failures). Princess Marguerite Alibert was exonerated for the murder of her husband on the basis of domestic abuse. Sir Reid had been working with poorly understood radiological material. Sir Stack was killed in a political dispute. And the deaths of Mace and Bethell had mundane – if perhaps murderous – explanations. The early 2000s attribution of blame on Aspergillus flavus also generated a media frenzy. But is 'Pharaoh's Curse' an unwarranted reputation? 'Upper Egypt in the 1920s was hardly what you'd call sanitary,' Dr DeWolfe Miller, Professor of epidemiology, told National Geographic in 2005. 'The idea that an underground tomb, after 3000 years, would have some kind of bizarre microorganism in it that's going to kill somebody six weeks later and make it look exactly like (blood poisoning) is very hard to believe.' Professor Miller concluded: 'I take the position that Howard Carter took before me. 'Given the sanitary conditions of the time in general, and those within Egypt in particular, Lord Carnarvon would likely have been safer in the tomb than outside.' And Aspergillus flavus – found almost everywhere grain is stored – may not be the villain it is made out to be 'The discovery of asperigimycins is a reminder that even the most unlikely sources – such as a toxic tomb fungus – can hold the key to revolutionary new treatments,' Professor Stebbing concludes. 'As researchers continue to explore the hidden world of fungi, who knows what other medical breakthroughs may lie just beneath the surface?'
RNZ News
12-07-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Toxic fungus enlisted in fight against leukemia
Close-up illustration of Aspergillus flavus fungus. Photo: KATERYNA KON/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Researchers say they have been able to modify toxic fungus cells to fight cancer - specifically, leukaemia. The same mould that has been linked to deaths in the excavations of ancient tombs and found on old bread has the capability of fight leukemia cells. The fungus is known as aspergillus flavus fungus. Associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr Sherry Gao, told Saturday Morning the discovery was significant. Gao said they found a new class of compound which was produced by the fungus. But how does the compound fight cancer? Associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania Dr Sherry Gao. Photo: Supplied / Dr Sherry Gao "We isolated and define the chemical structure of those new compounds," Gao said. "By making some small chemical tweaks we actually modified the structure a bit, we've found those modified compounds can enter leukaemia cells very selectively. "Once it's entered the cell, its able to prevent cell division - that's why it could possibly lead to a cure for leukaemia." This was not the first fungus that has led to a breakthrough in medicine. Penicillin was also created using a fungus. Gao said her lab was also experimenting with other fungi, aiming to kill other cancer cell lines. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
'Curse of Tutankhamun' Could Hide a Secret Cancer-Fighting Compound
A mold speculated to have been behind the deaths of a few who dared breach the tomb of Tutankhamun may be hiding a hopeful secret. The species, called Aspergillus flavus, is not actually a Pharaoh's curse, but it may be a medical blessing. A new study, led by molecular engineers at the University of Pennsylvania (Upenn), has now found that this particular fungus possesses cancer-fighting compounds. In the lab, when its natural products were mixed with human leukemia cancer cells, they showed potent effects. When modified, they even performed as well as some chemotherapy drugs. The compounds are called RiPPs for short (ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides), and they are made by a variety of organisms, including plants and bacteria. In recent years, plant-derived RiPPS have shown great potential in fighting off some types of cancer, but fungal RiPPS are not as well researched and can be misidentified because of their unique structures. "Even though only a few have been found, almost all of them have strong bioactivity," says lead author and biomolecular engineer Qiuyue Nie from UPenn. "This is an unexplored region with tremendous potential." A. flavus is found around the world in decayed organic material, and its yellow-green spores can infect crops as well as the lungs of mammals. In humans, an aspergillosis infection can lead to chronic lung conditions that may be fatal if left untreated. In 1973, some of the scientists who opened the tomb of a Polish King ended up dying prematurely. A microbiologist at the time found evidence of A. flavus in the tomb, which led to the assumption that this is what had killed the researchers. This logic was then applied to the curious fates of workers and an earl who attended the opening of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb in the early 20th century, only to famously die of illness days (or in the cases of the workers, years) later. Aspergillus's role in these deaths has fuelled imaginations. But its rise to fame in the history books has brought the fungus scientific attention in the modern era. Inspired by other studies which have linked A. flavus to anticancer activity, Nie and colleagues scanned a dozen different Aspergillus strains for RiPPs. Using metabolic and genetic techniques, they zoomed in on four different purified compounds with similar, complex structures. They named them asperigimycins. In lab experiments, two out of the the four asperigimycins exhibited high potency against leukemia cells, although none worked on breast, liver, or lung cancer cells. When researchers modified one RiPP and added a fatty molecule (a lipid), the compound showed enhanced anti-cancer activity on several different leukemia cell lines and a breast cancer cell line. In fact, this altered RiPP performed on par with two chemotherapy drugs approved by the FDA for leukemia: cytarabine and daunorubicin. The authors of the study, who hail from a variety of institutions around the United States and Portugal, suspect that their lipid substitution affects how the activity of a specific gene allows the drug to better infiltrate and remain inside cancer cells, disrupting replication. "Knowing that lipids can affect how this gene transports chemicals into cells gives us another tool for drug development," says Nie. Nearly a century after fungi gave us penicillin, these curious lifeforms are pointing us in the direction of yet another potential advancement. The study was published in Nature Chemical Biology. Common Vitamin Could Be The Secret to Younger-Looking Skin Scans Reveal What The Brains of Psychopaths Have in Common First Step Towards an Artificial Human Genome Now Underway
Gizmodo
29-06-2025
- Science
- Gizmodo
Notorious Fungus Blamed for ‘Mummy's Curse' Is Now a Promising Cancer Treatment
In the 1920s, a number of workers on the excavation team that uncovered King Tutankhamun's tomb met untimely deaths. Five decades later, 10 out of 12 scientists died after entering the tomb of the 15th-century Polish King Casimir IV. In both cases, researchers suggested that fungal spores could have played a role in the mysterious deaths, specifically identifying the fungus Aspergillus flavus within the Polish burial. A. flavus is now making a comeback, but not as a reawakened killer from ancient tombs, but instead as a surprisingly effective cancer-fighting compound. By modifying a newly identified molecule found in the fungus, the researchers created a compound that performed as effectively against leukemia cells as FDA-approved drugs. The molecules at the center of these anti-cancer properties, known as ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides, or RiPPs, are a diverse group of natural molecules assembled by the ribosome (which makes proteins) and later modified by enzymes. They conduct many different biological activities, some of which are already known for their anti-cancer properties. To date, researchers have identified only a handful of RiPPs in fungi—which is significantly less than the thousands previously discovered in bacteria. Part of the problem is that scientists didn't fully understand how fungi create RiPPs. 'The synthesis of these compounds is complicated,' Qiuyue Nie, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, said in a university statement. 'But that's also what gives them this remarkable bioactivity.' Genetic analysis suggested that a specific A. flavus protein could be a source of fungal RiPPs. Sure enough, when Nie and her colleagues turned off the genes responsible for said protein, RiPPs' chemical markers also vanished. Using this approach, the team discovered four different A. flavus RiPPs with a previously undocumented structure of interlocking rings. After researchers purified these RiPPs, which they named asperigimycins, two of the four unique molecules performed well against human leukemia cells without further modifications. When mixed with a lipid (a fatty molecule), a separate RiPPs variant performed as well as cytarabine and daunorubicin, both of which are long-established FDA-approved leukemia drugs. To investigate this lipid's enhancement properties, the researchers went back to turning genes off and on. In this way, they identified a gene associated with the process that lets enough asperigimycins into the cancer cells. 'This gene acts like a gateway,' said Nie, the first author of the study published Monday in Nature Chemical Biology. 'It doesn't just help asperigimycins get into cells, it may also enable other 'cyclic peptides' to do the same.' Cyclic peptides are other chemicals with known medicinal properties. 'Knowing that lipids can affect how this gene transports chemicals into cells gives us another tool for drug development,' Nie added. The researchers also discovered that asperigimycins might disrupt the process of cell division—which is good news for cancer treatment, since cancer consists of uncontrolled cell division. Furthermore, the compounds had little to no effect on breast, liver, or lung cancer cells, as well as on a number of bacteria and fungi. While this might sound like a negative thing, asperigimycins' potentially targeted impact would be an important characteristic for future medications. Moving forward, the researchers aim to test asperigimycins in animal trials. The recent study investigates a promising new cancer therapy, but it also paves the way for future research into fungal medicines. 'Nature has given us this incredible pharmacy,' said Sherry Gao, senior author of the study and an associate professor also in the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. 'It's up to us to uncover its secrets.'
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Fungus that may have caused 'King Tut's curse' shows promise in treating cancer
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A toxic fungus, once thought to have caused fatal lung infections in tomb explorers, may hold the key to powerful new cancer treatments, new research suggests. Within months of the discovery of the tomb of King Tutankhamun in 1922, the earl who had financed the excavation and visited the "wonderful" burial site died, leading many to believe the mummy had cursed those who entered the tomb. In the 1970s, 10 of the 12 archaeologists excavating the 15th-century crypt of King Casimir IV in Poland also met a similar fate. Analysis of Casimir's tomb revealed the presence of a fungus called Aspergillus flavus, the toxins of which are known to cause a deadly lung infection. Now, the same fungus has shown promise as a treatment for leukaemia, according to a new study published in Nature Chemical Biology. The researcher team identified and engineered a class of molecules within the fungus, called asperigimycins, that kill leukemia cells in a laboratory setting. "This is nature's irony at its finest," study senior author Sherry Gao, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, said in a statement. "The same fungus once feared for bringing death may now help save lives." Aspergillus flavus produces spores that are able to lie dormant for centuries — including inside sealed tombs. When disturbed, the fungus can cause deadly respiratory infections, particularly in people with weakened immune systems. Related: College student discovers psychedelic fungus that eluded LSD inventor In their new study, the scientists examined the unique chemical compounds produced by the fungus and discovered a class of natural compounds called RiPPs (ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides). These molecules are difficult to isolate and rarely seen in fungi, but they hold therapeutic promise due to their complex structures and bioactivity. This means they have intricate, unique shapes that can interact with biological systems in powerful ways, such as killing cancer cells. "We found four novel asperigimycins with an unusual interlocking ring structure," lead author Qiuyue Nie, a researcher in chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, said in the statement. "Two of them had strong anti-leukemia properties even without modification." To enhance the drugs' effectiveness, the researchers attached lipid molecules similar to those found in royal jelly, the nutrient-rich substance that sustains queen bees. This enabled the drugs to enter cancer cells more efficiently, because lipids help drugs cross cellular membranes, which are made largely of fats themselves. Further analysis revealed how a gene called SLC46A3 acts as a kind of molecular gateway, helping the drug escape cellular compartments and target leukemia cells directly. This discovery could aid in the delivery of other promising but hard-to-administer drugs in the future. RELATED STORIES —'The most critically harmful fungi to humans': How the rise of C. auris was inevitable —Mysterious artifacts from King Tut's tomb might have been used in 'awakening Osiris' ritual —Single gene may help explain the plague's persistence throughout human history Unlike broad-spectrum chemotherapy agents that can damage healthy cells, asperigimycins appear to specifically disrupt leukemia cell division without affecting healthy tissues. Early tests also suggest the compounds have minimal effects on breast, liver, and lung cancer cells. According to the researchers, this selectivity is important for minimizing unwanted side effects. In addition to asperigimycins, the team believe similar life-saving compounds may be hidden in other fungal species. The team are planning to test asperigimycins in animal models, with the eventual goal of launching human clinical trials. And by scanning fungal genomes and exploring more strains of Aspergillus, they hope to unlock new treatments. "The ancient world is still offering us tools for modern medicine," said Gao. "The tombs were feared for their curses, but they may become a wellspring of cures."
