|
The
researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are bringing
genetic engineering of plants back to the forefront. By altering
enzymes and substrates in periwinkle plant cells, the group of scientists
has been able to produce novel drugs that could ameliorate diseases
from hypertension to cancer. The drugs are similar to the ones currently
available today, but the plant-produced compounds have the potential
to be less toxic and more potent.
The periwinkle
plant produces a variety of alkaloid compounds of pharmacological
interest, including vinblastine, a drug commonly used to treat cancers
such as Hodgkin's lymphoma. It also produces serpentines, which
have shown promise as anti-cancer agents, and ajmalicine which is
used to treat hypertension.
|
|
|
|
The
researchers found that periwinkle cell cultures could produce novel
compounds if fed starting materials slightly different from their
normal substrates. They focused on an enzyme involved in an early
step of the alkaloid synthesis pathway. The enzyme normally accepts
a terpenoid called secologanin and tryptamine, an alkaloid, as substrates.
A mutant form of the enzyme that can accept tryptamine with a halogen
attached was engineered. Genetically engineered plant cell cultures
that produce the mutant were grown to produce the mutant enzyme that
can synthesize several compounds that periwinkle plants would normally
never produce.
You can
get more information at: www.medgadget.com/archives/2009/01/
plants_engineered_to_produce_new_drugs.html
|
