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Sea cucumber compound could be key to a new cancer therapy | The sea cucumber produces a sugary compound that can inhibit cancer spread
The sea cucumber has been found to naturally produce a sugary compound that inhibits an enzyme instrumental in facilitating cancer growth, according to a new study. The next step is to find a method for producing the marine-derived anticancer compound in large quantities.
“Marine life produces compounds with unique structures that are often rare or not found in terrestrial vertebrates,” said the study’s lead author, Marwa Farrag, a PhD candidate in UM’s Department of Biomolecular Science and an assistant lecturer in the Faculty of Pharmacy at Assiut University, Egypt. “The cells in our body are essentially covered in ‘forests’ of glycans,” said Vitor Pomin, corresponding author and an Associate Professor of Pharmacognosy at UM, which is the scientific study of medicinal drugs obtained from natural sources such as plants, animals, and minerals. “As you can imagine, if you are treating a patient with a molecule that inhibits blood coagulation, then one of the adverse effects that can be pretty devastating is uncontrolled bleeding,” said Joshua Sharp, UM Associate Professor of Pharmacology and another of the study’s co-authors.
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