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- Posted Friday October 16, 2015
Protein found in malaria could help stop cancer
Malarial protein binds to a sugar molecule found in many types of cancer, enabling anti-cancer drugs to target tumors
PHOENIX, Ariz. - Oct. 16, 2015 - Researchers at
the Translational
Genomics Research Institute (TGen) joined an international team
of scientists in discovering how a protein from malaria could some
day help stop cancer.
Collaborators at the University of Copenhagen, while exploring why
pregnant women are particularly susceptible to malaria, found that
the mosquito-borne parasite that causes malaria also produces a
protein that binds to a particular type of sugar molecule in the
placenta.
Researchers found that the same type of sugar molecule also is
present in many types of cancer.
Scientists at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Coastal Health and the BC Cancer Agency, working with those from
Copenhagen, realized that the sugar molecule - oncofetal
chondroitin sulfate - could be a target for anti-cancer drugs, and
that the malarial protein, called VAR2CSA, could provide the tool
for carrying such drugs to tumors.
TGen scientists were called in to help test the theory.
"Based on our clinical data, we helped validate that this could be
applied to melanoma and lung cancers," said Dr. Nhan Tran, an
Associate Professor in TGen's Cancer and Cell Biology Division, and
one of the authors of the study. "This specific type of
developmental protein - oncofetal chondroitin sulfate - is
expressed in the placenta, and is also expressed in lung cancer and
in melanoma."
Malaria uses VAR2CSA to embed itself in the placenta - hiding
itself from the immune system - by binding to oncofetal chondroitin
sulfate.
In laboratory experiments, researchers found that if they used the
malarial protein, VAR2CSA, and attached an anti-cancer drug to it,
it would bind with the oncofetal protein in the cancer, delivering
the drug to the tumor.
The results of the scientific study - Targeting Human Cancer
by a Glycosaminoglycan Binding Malaria Protein - were
published Oct. 12 in the journal Cancer Cell.
"Scientists have spent decades trying to find biochemical
similarities between placenta tissue and cancer, but we just didn't
have the technology to find it," said project leader Mads Daugaard,
an assistant professor of urologic science at UBC and a senior
research scientist at the Vancouver Prostate Centre, part of the
Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. "When my colleagues
discovered how malaria uses VAR2CSA to embed itself in the
placenta, we immediately saw its potential to deliver cancer drugs
in a precise, controlled way to tumors."
"This is an extraordinary finding that paves the way for targeting
sugar molecules in pediatric and adulthood human cancer, and our
groups are vigorously pursuing this possibility together," said
Poul Sorensen, a UBC professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
and distinguished scientist with the BC Cancer Agency and co-senior
investigator on the study.
"There is some irony that a disease as destructive as malaria
might be exploited to treat another dreaded disease," said Ali
Salanti, a professor of immunology and microbiology at the Centre
for Medical Parasitology, at University of Copenhagen.
Two companies, Vancouver-based Kairos Therapeutics and
Copenhagen-based VAR2 Pharmaceuticals, are developing the compound
for clinical trials in humans, which will take another three to
four years.
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About TGen
Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a Phoenix,
Arizona-based non-profit organization dedicated to conducting
groundbreaking research with life changing results. TGen is focused
on helping patients with neurological disorders, cancer, and
diabetes, through cutting edge translational research (the process
of rapidly moving research towards patient benefit). TGen
physicians and scientists work to unravel the genetic components of
both common and rare complex diseases in adults and children.
Working with collaborators in the scientific and medical
communities literally worldwide, TGen makes a substantial
contribution to help our patients through efficiency and
effectiveness of the translational process. For more information,
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Press Contact:
Steve Yozwiak
TGen Senior Science Writer
602-343-8704
[email protected]