Research on new medicines is always a great challenge for scientists, especially when it comes to solutions that are to help in the fight against cancer. What if the weapon against cancer cells is their… appetite? Should the medicine always hit the bull\u2019s-eye to be effective? Our guest of the 8th edition of the Scientific Premiere Stage: Science Talk Show, Prof. Robert Musio\u0142 from the Faculty of Science and Technology, seeks the answers to these questions.<\/p>\n
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In order to prepare for the war against cancer, the biggest serial killer in world history, we have to carry out interdisciplinary research in various fields, such as chemistry, biology, genetics, and even computer science. The reason? Our sworn enemy is highly unpredictable. Cancer is a vicious beast strongly connected to humans.\u00a0 Our guest of the 8th edition of the Scientific Premiere Stage, Prof. Robert Musio\u0142 from the Faculty of Science and Technology, carries out research on the use of cancer cells\u2019 unique features against themselves. As a result, scientists from the University of Silesia have managed to develop compounds thousands of times stronger than iron chelators that were originally studied for cancer treatment.\u00a0 The results of the experiments have been published multiple times in such prestigious scientific journals as \u201cCancers,\u201d \u201cEuropean Journal of Medicinal Chemistry,\u201d or \u201cScientific Reports\u201d (a new journal from the publishers of \u201cNature\u201d). These experiments are also a base of several patents.<\/p>\n
Wild cells<\/h3>\n
Seeking effective anticancer pharmaceuticals is challenging due to two reasons: the disruptiveness of cancer cells and its similarity to body cells. However, from the effective meds, we mostly expect their selective effect.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it comes to cancers, the problem is that cancer cells are still the patient\u2019s body cells. These are wild cells that behave abnormally and do not want to obey the signals of the environment. That is why it is so difficult to develop a medicine that will be able to \u2018tell apart\u2019 cancer cells from healthy tissues,\u201d explains Prof. Robert Musio\u0142.<\/p>\n
Taking advantage of weak points<\/h3>\n
The idea that Prof. Musio\u0142\u2019s team implements is to take advantage of cancer cells\u2019 weak points, e.g., their increased appetite for certain factors.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is said that cancer feeds on sugar. As a matter of fact, all cells need glucose as their main source of fuel, but cancer cells use it slightly differently, in a bit less effective way,\u201d says the scientist. \u201cDue to its faster growth and uncontrolled multiplication, they need more energy. It is similar to iron, which, apart from its basic function in haemoglobin, is necessary to maintain the normal cellular metabolism, related to the conversion of glucose into energy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The very iron has become the target of the researchers from the Faculty of Science and Technology. Their research were carried out under several grants. One of them is a project \u201cDual ionophores as multi-target agents against pancreatic cancer,\u201d financed by the Polish National Science Centre with the amount of over PLN 1.6 million. The idea of the project is to take advantage of the high iron demand and point the already accelerated metabolism of the cancer cells against themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is like giving the cells poisoned cookies, letting them hurt themselves,\u201d explains the guest of the 8th Science Talk Show.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Selectivity is not that important<\/h3>\n
In research on an anti-cancer pharmaceutical, Prof. Musio\u0142 partially rejects the assumption that selectivity is the most important feature, and a good medicine should have as limited number of targets as possible. Until now, such effects have been considered harmful and leading to undesirable effects.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe decided to reject the \u2018one disease-one target-one medicine\u2019 assumption. Not only have we agreed to be multi-purposed, but we even create our medicines in that particular way. This allows to simultaneously attack several points in a cell and increases a pharmaceutical\u2019s effectiveness,\u201d says the scientist.<\/p>\n
Prof. Musio\u0142 recalls Paul Ehrlich, an outstanding researcher and discoverer of the first effective medicine for treating syphilis, and the developer of the technique of staining tissues that eventually became the basis of histology. The German chemist and bacteriologist was the first to use the term \u2018magic bullet\u2019 to describe a medicine that can bypass secondary targets and hit the primary one. Researchers from the University of Silesia assumed that by having such a magic bullet that can hit several targets at the same time, we could afford… shooting blind.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have discovered that our ionophores, apart from their pro-oxidative effect, reduce the antioxidant potential of a cell. All cells have a system of preventing damage caused by free radicals, and due to the fact that cancer cells have increased metabolism, their protection is stronger. If pro-oxidant effect and damage to the protective barrier occur simultaneously, the destruction of a cell is accelerated, and what is particularly interesting, it turns out that healthy tissues are safe. Since their level of oxidising factors is much lower, such medicine does not lead to an abrupt imbalance and death because such a cell can cope with them,\u201d explains Prof. Musio\u0142.<\/p>\n
Following Paul Ehrlich footsteps<\/h3>\n
Following Paul Ehrlich footsteps, Prof. Robert Musio\u0142 developed an interest in staining tissues, which prompted him to work on compounds that not only bind metals (zinc, in this particular case) but also glow under the influence of UV, which allows to use them in the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. You could read about it in a recently published article on laboratoria.net<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n The fascinating topic of fighting against cancer will be discussed by Prof. Robert Musio\u0142 during the 8th Scientific Premiere Stage: Science Talk Show on 29 April 2021 at 6 p.m. The meeting will be hosted by Katarzyna G\u0142uch-Juszkiewicz, a journalist of the Polish Radio Katowice.<\/p>\nLinks to the event<\/h3>\n
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