Frog cancer enzyme treatment

According to British and American scientists, an enzyme in frog egg cells has great potential for treating cancer, especially brain cancer. This new therapy is undergoing pre-clinical testing.

Researchers from the University of Bath (UK) and Alfacell (USA) have successfully isolated and tested amphinase, a version of the ribonuclease enzyme from egg cells of Northern Leopard frog (Rana pipiens).

Ribonuclease is an enzyme found in all organisms and is responsible for clearing the free strands of drift cells of the RNA (ribonucleic acid) by penetrating this molecule and cutting it into short sections.

In mammals, this enzyme's activity is strictly controlled by inhibitors so it does not pose any harm. But amphinase is a frog ribonuclease - a species of amphibians and not mammals - so amphinases overcome the inhibitory molecules of mammals to destroy cancer cells.

Test results show that amphinase is able to recognize a specific pathway on cancer cells and adhere to it, and then seek to penetrate inside the cell to attack .

Once inside the cancer cell, the amphinase molecule breaks down the normal activity of the cell and kills the cell by severing the RNA strands - the genetic material that conveys the instructions of DNA to the protein-producing organ in the cell.

The enzyme found in Northern Leopard frogs has the effect of treating cancer, especially brain cancer.(Photo: Biology.mcgill.ca)

Although there is potential in the treatment of many cancers, amphinase is considered to open the greatest opportunity in the treatment of brain cancer - a type of cancer that can only be intervened by surgery and chemotherapy. Very complex therapy.

The team hopes that amphinase will lead to the birth of the first drug to treat brain cancer.

According to Professor Ravi Acharya, of the Department of Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Bath, the test results showed that amphinase 'has a very high ability in finding, penetrating and destroying cancers.' He said: 'This is a very powerful molecule. It is like a magic bullet of the Creator capable of targeting cancer cells to destroy. ' According to him, this enzyme 'can be easily synthesized in the laboratory and has the potential to become a future cancer drug'.

According to the team, the drug made from amphinase will be injected directly into the tumor area and not harm the surrounding healthy cells, because amphinase only detects and attacks cancer cells .

However, Professor Acharya said: 'Testing of amphinase is only at an early stage, and it will take several years to have such a drug. And that drug must go through large-scale clinical trials to be proven safe and effective in treating cancer. '

Amphinase is the second version of the ribonuclease enzyme isolated by Alfacell Corporation from frog eggs Rana pipiens. The first version is ranpirnase, which is currently in phase 3 clinical trials for unresectable malignant mesothelioma - a rare and dangerous form of lung cancer. The previous two stages of testing focused on non-small cell lung cancer and other hard tumors.

Amphinase is the second version of the enzyme ribonuclease isolated from Northern Leopard frog eggs.(Photos: Wikipedia)

Mr. Kuslima Shogen, Chairman and General Manager of Alfacell Corporation, said 'he is very pleased with the great achievement Achaça and his colleagues have achieved'. "This study is very important for understanding and developing new ribonuclease-based therapies, opening up opportunities for treatment for people with cancer or other dangerous diseases," he said.

Currently, Alfacell Corporation is continuing pre-clinical trials for Amphinase before moving to clinical trials in the future.

This research has just been published in the Journal of Molecular Biology of Elsevier Group, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Quang Thinh

According to BBC, Cancer Research UK, News- Medical.Net, VietNamNet