Australian scientists have created a new method for the biosynthesis of moroidin in the tissues of harmless plants. This
Australian poison tree (Dendrocnidemoroides) is a plant that belongs to the nettle family. It is covered in thin silicon needles laced with one of nature's most painful toxins, a compound called moroidin. “It is known for causing severe pain that lasts for a very long time,” said Jing-Ke Weng, a Whitehead Institute fellow and co-author of the study.
However, moroidin also has anotherside; In addition to causing pain, this compound binds to the cytoskeleton of cells, preventing them from dividing, making moroidin a promising candidate for chemotherapy drugs.
Collecting enough chemicaldifficult to study for obvious reasons. Now scientists have published a method for biosynthesizing moroidin in the tissues of harmless plants such as tobacco. This will facilitate research into the compound's usefulness for treating cancer.
Moroidin is a bicyclic peptide.It is almost impossible to synthesize due to its complex chemical structure. Four years ago, scientists figured out the mechanism for the biosynthesis of another type of plant peptide, called lycium, first discovered in goji berries.
Using this data, they were able toa variety of moroidin analogs in tobacco plants by transgenic expression of the Kerria japonica precursor gene. In the end, their method made it possible to produce the same moroidin chemistry in a different host plant that is easier to grow, harvest, and study.
In their new study, scientists also synthesized an analoguemoroidin called coelogentin C. They tested its anticancer activity against a human lung cancer cell line and found that the compound was toxic to pathogenic cells.
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