Engineering of bacterial strains and their products for cancer therapy.

Abstract

The use of live bacteria in cancer therapies offers exciting possibilities. Nowadays, an increasing number of genetically engineered bacteria are emerging in the field, with applications both in therapy and diagnosis. In parallel, purified bacterial products are also gaining relevance as new classes of bioactive products to treat and prevent cancer growth and metastasis. In the first part of the article, we review the latest findings regarding the use of live bacteria and products as anti-cancer agents, paying special attention to immunotoxins, proteins, and peptides. In particular, we focus on the recent results of using azurin or its derived peptide as anticancer therapeutic agents. In the second part, we discuss the challenges of using metagenomic techniques as a distinctive approach for discovering new anti-cancer agents from bacterial origin.

• Authors: Nuno Bernardes, Ananda M Chakrabarty, Arsenio M Fialho
• Journal: Applied microbiology and biotechnology (Appl Microbiol Biotechnol) Vol. 97 Issue 12 Pg. 5189-99 (Jun 2013) ISSN: 1432-0614 [Electronic] Germany
• PMID: 23644748 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, Review)

Chemical References

• Antineoplastic Agents
• Bacterial Proteins
• Bacterial Toxins
• Immunotoxins
• Azurin

Topics

• Antineoplastic Agents (isolation & purification, metabolism, therapeutic use)
• Azurin (metabolism)
• Bacteria (genetics, metabolism)
• Bacterial Proteins (metabolism)
• Bacterial Toxins (metabolism)
• Biological Therapy (methods)
• Biotechnology (methods)
• Computational Biology
• Immunotoxins (metabolism)
• Metabolic Engineering (methods)
• Metabolic Networks and Pathways (genetics)
• Metagenomics
• Neoplasms (diagnosis, therapy)
• Technology, Pharmaceutical (methods)