HOW CURRY COMBATS CANCER

I've just talked about this article with my
co-workers and my boss. And also I've found
blog entry about turmeric today.
I'd like to introduce the article from
Chemical & Enginnering News.

Chemical & Engineering News, September 1, 2003
Volume 81, Number 35, CENEAR 81 35 p. 8
ISSN 0009-2347

HOW CURRY COMBATS CANCER
The active ingredient curcumin inhibits an enzyme
that promotes tumors

Summary of this article is shown below.

Biochemists in South Korea have discovered how
curcumin fights cancer. Curcumin, the bright yellow
active ingredient in turmeric (a spice used in curry),
irreversibly inhibits aminopeptidase N (APN),
an enzyme that spurs tumor invasiveness and
angiogenesis (blood vessel growth)
[Chem. Biol., 10, 695 (2003)].

Scientists have known since the early 1990s that curcumin somehow slows the growth of new cancers.
Curcumin is now in Phase I clinical trials for colon cancer.

Ho Jeong Kwon, professor of bioscience and biotechnology at Sejong
University, Seoul, screened 3,000 molecules for activity against
APN, and curcumin showed up as a potent inhibitor.

Through a combination of in vitro and in vivo
enzyme assays and surface plasmon resonance
analysis, Kwon and coworkers established
that curcumin's inhibition of APN is direct
and irreversible.

Hynda K. Kleinman, a chemist and cell
biologist at NIH who studies angiogenesis,
says Kwon's finding opens up the
possibility of developing more potent
APN inhibitors based on the structure
of curcumin. And curcumin itself is
"an exciting compound because it can be
taken orally and may not have any
side effects for cancer patients."

Original Article is here (Need subscribe the journal)

Japanese Version of this Entry is here

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