Natural Compounds with Anticancer Activity and Implications in Arid Land Agriculture


	impact
		The University of Arizona
*College of Agriculture and Life Sciences*
	*Enhance Economic Opportunities for Agricultural Producers* Natural Compounds with Anticancer Activity and Implications in Arid Land Agriculture *Impact Nugget* Scientists at the University of Arizona’s Southwestern Center for Natural Products Research and Commercialization (SCNPRC) have discovered several compounds in desert plants that can significantly inhibit the growth of tumors and that are associated with Traditional Chinese Medicine and Indian Ayurvedic Medicine. The protein target of one of these compounds was determined and validated as a new target for anticancer drug discovery. They have also found a natural compound occurring in a plant-associated microorganism that has been shown to make the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, able to withstand high temperatures up to 45 degrees Celsius, or 113 degrees Fahrenheit, with implications for desert agriculture. *Issue* Scientists at the Office of Arid Lands Studies’ Southwestern Center for Natural Products Research and Commercialization (SCNPRC) are working with universities in and outside the United States, with agrochemical and pharmaceutical companies, and with other commercial entities to develop new biological and industrial products. The SCNPRC is part of the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The ultimate goal of this collaborative research program is to discover 1) specialty chemicals in indigenous desert plants that can be grown as industrial cash crops 2) plant-associated microorganisms that can be used to produce pharmaceuticals and natural products with agricultural implications and 3) manipulation of biosynthetic genes of microorganisms capable of producing biologically active natural products. Natural product-based anti-cancer and anti-infective drugs and agrochemicals are in particular demand. *What has been done?* The SCNPRC team selects plants and plant-associated microorganisms in collaboration with other scientists, evaluates them for useful biological activities. If active, the scientists separate and characterize the natural compounds responsible for the activity, and determine how to cultivate and process these organisms on a commercial scale. In the case of anti-cancer agents, those showing promise will proceed into animal testing for efficacy and toxicity. The SCNPRC group, in collaboration with the UA Division of Plant Pathology, the Departments of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Immunology, Pediatric Oncology and Surgery, the Arizona Cancer Center, Arizona State University, Translational Genomics Institute, Josephine Ford Cancer Center, Harvard University, Whitehead Institute, China Pharmaceutical University, and DuPont Crop Protection Division is currently pursuing some plant and microorganism-derived compounds for their in vitro and in vivo anticancer activity and also their utility in improving agricultural production in arid lands. *Impact* A natural compound occurring in a plant-associated microorganism has been shown to make the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana thermotolerant–able to withstand high temperatures up to 45 degrees Celsius, or 113 degrees Fahrenheit. A patent application for this unusual activity of a natural product has been filed. Further work pursued in collaboration with Harvard University and the Whitehead Institute has shown that growing of Arabidopsis together with the fungus producing this compound also confers thermotolerance. Implications of these findings in arid land agriculture are currently being studied in collaboration with DuPont Crop Protection. The drug discovery program has been expanded to include anti-infective agents, especially those useful to treat HIV infections, and a program to study and manipulate microbial biosynthetic genes was recently initiated. Animal studies of anti-cancer compounds isolated from two medicinal plants, one used in Traditional Chinese Medicine and the other in Indian Ayurvedic Medicine, have shown encouraging anti-angiogenic activity–the ability to halt cancerous growths by inhibiting the spread of blood vessels that nourish tumors and enable them to spread into vital organs of the body. The two compounds significantly reduced cancer cell proliferation in culture. A patent application has been filed for the discovery of a novel anti-cancer drug target. This is part of an ongoing effort to find natural products with unique applications from arid lands organisms, allowing conservation and maintenance of the delicate desert ecosystem. *Funding* Arizona Agricultural Experiment Station–Natural Products Center Arizona Biomedical Research Commission Association for the Cure of Cancer of Prostate (CaP CURE) Public Health Funding from NIH and NCI Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Program American Institute for Cancer Research *Contact* Leslie Gunatilaka SW Center for Natural Products Research and Commercialization The University of Arizona 250 E. Valencia Road Tucson, AZ 85706 Tel.: (520) 741-1691 FAX: (520) 741-1468 Email: leslieg@ag.arizona.edu Return to the Title Page Return to the Table of Contents