Latest news with #QiuyueNie
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
27-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Deadly fungus tied to a pharaoh's tomb may help fight cancer
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A fatal fungus once thought to be a curse could potentially help fight disease. Scientists discovered molecules in a fungus linked to Tutankhamun's tomb that stop the proliferation of cancer cells and are as effective as currently used treatments. Fungi may hold a treasure trove of medical breakthroughs just waiting to be unearthed. The "pharaoh's curse" fungus, Aspergillus flavus, can be used to fight leukemia, according to a study published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology. The fungus is called "pharaoh's curse" because it is "linked to the deaths of several archeologists who opened ancient tombs around the world, including the famous discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun in the 1920s," said Popular Mechanics. At the time, many believed the deaths to be the result of an ancient curse rather than fungal inhalation. Aspergillus flavus is known as a "microbial villain," said Popular Science. It is "one of the most frequently isolated mold species in both agriculture and medicine," and is "commonly found in soil and can infect a broad range of important agricultural crops." Exposure to the fungus can lead to lung infections, especially in those who are immunocompromised. Despite its deadly reputation, the fungus contains a class of peptides that can fight cancer when modified. Researchers were able to isolate four molecules from A. flavus, which they named "asperigimycins." The molecules were capable of forming a unique structure of interlocking rings. "Even without genetic modifications, the asperigimycins demonstrated medical potential when mixed together with human cancer cells," said Popular Science. "Two out of the four variants had potent effects against leukemia cells." When fatty molecules called lipids were added to the mix, the asperigimycins were as effective as the FDA-approved drugs used to treat the cancer. There also seem to be no apparent side effects from A. flavus. Asperigimycins are part of a class of molecules called ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides, or RiPPs. A number of them have been found in bacteria, but they are "rare in fungi and notoriously hard to study," said Wired. This is "mainly because no one was looking closely until now." However, "even though only a few have been found, almost all of them have strong bioactivity," Qiuyue Nie, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and an author of the study, said in a statement. "This is an unexplored region with tremendous potential." Fungi have long been a source of medicine, perhaps most famously the antibiotic penicillin. This research implies there is more where that came from. "Nature has given us this incredible pharmacy," Sherry Gao, an associate professor at UPenn and the senior author of the study, said in the statement. "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." The next step in the process will be to test the newly discovered treatment on animals and then eventually on humans. It will likely still be many years before the treatments can be widely used on people.
Hans India
26-06-2025
- Health
- Hans India
Researchers turn toxic fungus into potent anti-cancer compound
A team of US researchers has turned a deadly fungus into a potent cancer-fighting compound, according to a new study. The result was a promising cancer-killing compound that rivals FDA-approved drugs and opens up new frontiers in the discovery of more fungal medicines, according to the study by University of Pennsylvania's School of Engineering and Applied Science. 'Fungi gave us penicillin. These results show that many more medicines derived from natural products remain to be found,' said Sherry Gao, Presidential Penn Compact Associate Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) and senior author of a new paper in Nature Chemical Biology journal. The therapy in question is a class of ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides, or RiPPs, pronounced like the 'rip' in a piece of fabric. The name refers to how the compound is produced — by the ribosome, a tiny cellular structure that makes proteins — and the fact that it is modified later, in this case, to enhance its cancer-killing properties. 'Purifying these chemicals is difficult,' says Qiuyue Nie, a postdoctoral fellow in CBE and the paper's first author. While thousands of RiPPs have been identified in bacteria, only a handful have been found in fungi. In part, this is because past researchers misidentified fungal RiPPs as non-ribosomal peptides and had little understanding of how fungi created the molecules. 'The synthesis of these compounds is complicated,' adds Nie. 'But that's also what gives them this remarkable bioactivity.' To find more fungal RiPPs, the researchers first scanned a dozen strains of Aspergillus, which previous research suggested might contain more of the chemicals. By comparing chemicals produced by these strains with known RiPP building blocks, the researchers identified A. flavus as a promising candidate for further study. Genetic analysis pointed to a particular protein in A. flavus as a source of fungal RiPPs. When the researchers turned the genes that create that protein off, the chemical markers indicating the presence of RiPPs also disappeared. This novel approach — combining metabolic and genetic information — not only pinpointed the source of fungal RiPPs in A. flavus, but could be used to find more fungal RiPPs in the future. Notably, the compounds had little to no effect on breast, liver or lung cancer cells — or a range of bacteria and fungi — suggesting that asperigimycins' disruptive effects are specific to certain types of cells, a critical feature for any future medication. The next step is to test asperigimycins in animal models, with the hope of one day moving to human clinical trials.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Ancient ‘pharaoh's curse' could be used to fight cancer: ‘It's up to us to uncover its secrets'
From curses to cures — an ancient hex might just be modern science's secret to battling leukemia. In the 1920s, archaeologists blamed a string of bizarre deaths following the excavation of King Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt on the 'pharaoh's curse.' Decades later, in the 1970s, it happened again when a group of scientists entered the tomb of Casimir IV in Poland. Out of a team of 12, 10 died within weeks. They didn't know it then, but the tomb contained Aspergillus flavus, a fungus that can cause lung infections. Now, University of Pennsylvania researchers have modified this microbial villain and tapped into its potential as a biomedical hero. Their new study — published this week in the journal Nature Chemical Biology — revealed that Aspergillus flavus could transform into a cancer-fighting agent that rivals traditional medicines approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Their work highlights the ability to rebrand a historically toxic substance into a groundbreaking drug. 'Fungi gave us penicillin,' Sherry Gao, an associate professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering and bioengineering, said in a statement, referring to the world's first successful antibiotic. 'These results show that many more medicines derived from natural products remain to be found,' she added. First study author Qiuyue Nie called it an 'unexplored region with tremendous potential.' Gao's group isolated and purified four RiPPs from Aspergillus flavus, with these molecules showing killer results against leukemia cells. But there are obstacles to greater success. 'Purifying these chemicals is difficult,' Nie said. And while scientists have identified thousands of RiPPs in bacteria, far fewer have been found in fungi. This might be in part because researchers used to confuse them with a different class of molecules and didn't fully understand how fungi produced them. 'The synthesis of these compounds is complicated,' Nie noted. 'But that's also what gives them this remarkable bioactivity,' she continued. The new research confirms that much of our environment and nature are not yet fully understood — and this exploration could benefit contemporary medicine. 'Nature has given us this incredible pharmacy,' Gao said. 'It's up to us to uncover its secrets.'
