Caribbean sea anemone and cancer treatment

A scientific team has discovered a natural compound derived from the Caribbean sea anemone (Stichodactyla helianthus) that selectively attacks cancer cellsopening up a promising approach to improve cancer treatment and reduce the risk of relapse.

This is an international investigation led by the Madrid Institute IMDEA Nutrition and has been published in Nature Aging. The results could also transform the way we approach other related diseases with age.

Although chemotherapy is effective at killing many cancer cells, it can also cause some to enter a state known as senescence. These cells stop growing, but remain alive and, over time, can cause inflammation and even contribute to the recurrence of cancer.

To address this challenge, the research led by Maria Ikonomopoulouhead of the Translational Venomics Group at IMDEA Nutrition, has revealed that sticolysin I (StnI), a small protein with 176 waste and present in the anemone that covers the seabed, it has senolytic properties and a selective toxicity that acts on the lipid composition.

In addition, an improved version of the compound called StnIG has been developed, a unique senolytic agent whose results have been surprising, being capable of eliminating harmful senescent cells with great precision, without damaging healthy tissue. These advances can inspire the next generation of therapeutic treatments to make them more effective and reduce the chances of cancer coming back, leading to better outcomes and fewer side effects for patients.

“Poisonous peptides can be extremely potent and stable, they have different properties with characteristics similar to drugs,” he indicated. Ikonomopoulou. It also refers to the new term they have coined, senotoxins“a different class of senolytics inspired by animal poisons that offer a new molecular target, for example, serum potassium could be a potential biomarker. The important thing is that we are opening the door to the design of more intelligent drugs,” he points out.

Beyond cancer, the IMDEA Nutrition researcher advances that “its ability to eliminate harmful senescent cells could benefit age-related diseasessuch as fibrosis or kidney deterioration, and even shed light on some premature aging syndromes by alleviating chronic inflammation.”

To understand whether senotoxins can support real medical treatments, they have tested them in two animal models: zebrafish and the mouse. The StnlG compound is so stable that it can be effectively administered by intraperitoneal injection and, when combined with chemotherapy, significantly improves tumor remission in these experimental models. These results suggest that they can achieve what many senolytics have not: effective removal of senescence without dangerous toxicity.

The team is completed as co-authors Javier Moral-Sanz and Isabel Fernández-Carrascoalso from IMDEA Nutrition, together with other researchers from other centers in Spain and Europe, as well as from the United States, Israel and Australia.