A recent study conducted at the University of Missouri indicates that a bacterial communication system may be used to kill cancer cells. Bacterial populations communicate through a process called quorum sensing (QS). In QS, bacteria secrete signaling molecules called autoinducers. Based on the type of autoinducer secreted, bacteria can escape the immune system, multiply, or even stop spreading (1).
Bacteria shown on the left are pre-treatment; bacteria on the right have been exposed to the treatment and are dead (1).
In this study, a “stop-spreading” autoinducer called ODDHSL was introduced to cancer cells, impeding migration of the cancer. Senthil Kumar, lead author of the study and assistant director of the Comparative Oncology and Epigenetics Laboratory at the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, states that pancreatic cancer cells exposed to ODDHSL not only stopped spreading, but also began to die. Kumar elaborates, “We used pancreatic cancer cells, because those are the most robust, aggressive, and hard-to-kill cancer cells that can occur in the human body. To show that this molecule can not only stop the cancer cells from spreading, but actually cause them to die, is very exciting” (1).
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth most prevalent cancer-related cause of death in the US. According to the American Cancer Society, about 45,000 people were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2013. Pancreatic cancer’s survival rate is about 5 percent (2). Thus, scientists are ardently searching for a new form of treatment for this disease.
Although the ODDHSL treatment kills cancer cells in vitro (outside of living organisms), further in vivo (within living organisms) evaluation is required before this treatment can be deemed viable for humans. Kumar explains, “Our biggest challenge right now is to find a way to introduce these molecules in an effective way…If additional studies, including animal studies, are successful, then the next step would be translating this application into clinics” (1). If these additional studies yield encouraging results, bacterial communication could become a pioneering field of oncological research and could help save millions of lives from cancer.
Sources:
1. Iacurci, J. (2014, September 24). Bacterial ‘communication system’ could be used to stop, kill cancer cells, study finds. Retrieved September 29, 2014, from http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/9176/20140924/bacteria-communication-could-kill-cancer-on-command.htm
2. Kumar, A., Bryan, J., & Kumar, S. (2014). Bacterial Quorum Sensing Molecule N-3-Oxo-Dodecanoyl-L-Homoserine Lactone Causes Direct Cytotoxicity and Reduced Cell Motility in Human Pancreatic Carcinoma Cells. PLoS ONE, 9(9). Retrieved September 29, 2014, from plosone.org
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