Disease-causing Salmonella bacteria could be used to fight bowel cancer, as scientists make a groundbreaking discovery.
Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the UK, with around 16,800 deaths a year, making it vital to find new ways to tackle the disease.
While bacteria, such as Salmonella, the food poisoning bug, have been the focus of previous research, they have always met with limited success.
This is because while the bacteria has a suppressive effect on the growth of tumor cells, it also suppresses a part of our immune system that is essential for fighting tumors.
However, a new finding by Cancer Research UK-funded researchers in Glasgow and Birmingham has identified the mechanism that causes the immune system to suppress itself and found a possible solution.
He paperpublished in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine, studied the response of T cells, a type of immune cell that helps protect the body against cancer, to a specially engineered safe form of Salmonella in mice with colorectal cancer.
Researchers discovered that Salmonella prevents T cells from doing their job and stops colorectal cancer cells in their tracks.
The team found that Salmonella depleted an amino acid called asparagine that suppresses tumor growth and also suppresses T cells by stopping their metabolic processes.
The researchers found that Salmonella depleted an amino acid called asparagine that suppresses tumor growth and also prevents T cells from doing their job.
Lead researcher Dr Kendle Maslowski, from the Scottish Institute of Cancer Research UK in Glasgow and the University of Glasgow (pictured), believes the findings show the bacteria could be engineered to help fight cancer.
But they believe that the Salmonella bacteria could be further modified to work together with the body’s immune system, so that the T cells continue to attack cancer cells along with bacteria that suppress tumor growth.
Lead researcher Dr Kendle Maslowski, from the Scottish Cancer Research UK Institute in Glasgow and the University of Glasgow, said: “We know that attenuated Salmonella and other bacteria have the power to fight cancer, however, “until now it was not known why they were not showing it.” as effective as it should be.
‘Our research has discovered that the bacteria attacks an amino acid called asparagine, which is essential for T cells to activate.
“We believe that this knowledge could allow us to design bacteria that do not attack asparagine, allowing T cells to act against tumor cells, which would lead to new effective cancer treatments.”
First author Dr Alastair Copland, an immunology researcher at the University of Birmingham, added: “It’s especially rewarding to turn a disease-causing insect like Salmonella into one that fights cancer.’
While scientists have investigated the use of bacteria to fight cancer since the 19th century, the health dangers they pose meant it was not explored further.
But recent advances in genetic modification to make bacteria safe to use have sparked a resurgence of research in this area.
Cancer Research UK research director Dr Catherine Elliott said: “Bacterial therapies have not become widespread despite the huge progress we are making with immunotherapies that use our body’s own immune system to attack cancer. “.
“But it has long been recognized that the power of bacteria has significant potential to combat disease.
“This exciting breakthrough from Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute could lead to more effective treatments for patients with colorectal and other cancers in the future, giving patients hope.”