Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences succeeded in extracting a complex sugar compound from marine bacteria that live in the depths of the ocean, and proved its ability to stimulate a special type of death of cancer cells known as “programmed inflammatory death”.
According to a study published in the Journal of the American Physiological Union of Experiences, the compound, named Eps3.9, showed a great effectiveness in targeting leukemia cells and stimulating the immune response of animal models with liver cancer, indicating promising therapeutic capabilities based on marine sources.
This compound is a kind of “external sicard”, which are long -chain sugary molecules extracted from marine bacteria called Spongebacter Nanhanos, discovered in the depths of the South China Sea. This strain is characterized by its ability to produce rare vital compounds that adapt to very cruel environments, such as high pressure and low temperatures.
EPS3.9 is composed of two types of monounsaturators, manufacturers and glucose, and has a unique ability to interact with phospholipids in the membranes of cancer cells. This reaction leads to a series of changes inside the cell, which leads to the stimulation of the “pyrobetosis” mechanism or inflammatory death, a programmed process accompanied by the release of inflammatory substances that require the immune system to attack the tumor.
The results of the study show that this type of interaction is not limited to destroying the tumor cells, but also enhances the ability of the immune system to identify and combat tumors, and at the same time weaken the environment surrounding the tumor, which reduces the chances of its spread within the body.
In animal experiments, the compound succeeded in reducing the size of liver tumors in mice significantly, with a strong anti -cellular immunotherapy activity, making it a candidate for treatments that combine chemical effect and immune stimulation at the same time.
The researchers emphasize that the results are an important step towards exploring drug resources from the depths of the seas, especially carbohydrates of sea origin, which have become the focus of global attention in light of the need for less toxic and more accurate treatments in targeting infected cells.
Professor Shao Min Sun, the lead author of the study, said this discovery is not only a scientific basis for developing new drugs, but also highlights the huge biological treasures inherent in deep marine environments, which are still fully exploited in the medical field.
