Scientists from Purdue University discovered a key to new cancer treatment from common Mediterranean herbs. They found that a compound in both thyme and oregano has properties that suppress tumor growth. In their study, they reported that this could lead to a breakthrough in the global fight against cancer.
Biochemistry professor Natalia Dudareva from the university's College of Agriculture said in a statement that these common herbs are important, but the amount is very limited. Therefore, it is imperative to understand how these compounds are formed to open a path in engineering plants with higher compound levels or perhaps find a way to synthesize them in microorganisms for medical use.
Breakthrough Cancer Treatment Points to Common Herbs in Suppressing Tumor Growth
Thyme and Oregano Contain Anti-Cancer Compound
During the pandemic, cancer ranks second after heart disease and ahead of COVID-19 as the leading cause of death in the US, as reported on the recent findings of a study published in Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker. But now, the new study's findings could help reduce deaths related to cancer.
Mediterranean herbs, such as thyme and oregano, contain thymol, carvacrol, and thymohydroquinone that give them their distinctive flavor, Study Finds reported. These common herbs are rich in antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. But out of the three compounds, Purdue scientists found that thymohydroquinone has anti-cancer properties.
Purdue scientists collaborated with scientists from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and Michigan State University to conduct their Study titled, "The Biosynthesis of Thymol, Carvacrol, and Thymohydroquinone in Lamiaceae Proceeds via Cytochrome P450s and a Short-Chain Dehydrogenase," which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
In their study, they described an entire molecular recipe of thymohydroquinone and mapped how its precursor's thymol and carvacrol were formed alongside the compound.
Dudareva said that the findings are contrary to previous views of how a class of compounds known as phenolic or aromatic monoterpenes is formed, showing that only a few biosynthetic pathways have been discovered in some plants.
Study co-first author Pan Liao, a postdoctoral researcher in Professor Dudareva's lab, added that the findings supply new targets for engineering compounds in plants and other organisms. Liao noted that plants do not only contain medicinal properties, but these compounds are also used in food additives, perfumes, cosmetics, and other products.
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Scientists Try to Reproduce the Anti-Cancer Compound in the Lab
After finding the biosynthetic pathway at which the thymohydroquinone was produced. Scientists attempted to reproduce it in the lab to find a way to make large amounts of the compound, to make new cancer treatment drugs.
Wales Online reported that the team employed RNA sequencing techniques and correlation analysis by screening more than 80,000 genes from samples of plant tissues and identified which of those genes are responsible for the production of the anti-cancer compound. The team was able to identify the molecular map through metabolite profiling and biochemical testing.
"We found that the aromatic backbone of both thymol and carvacrol is formed from γ-terpinene by a P450 monooxygenase in combination with a dehydrogenase via two unstable intermediates, but not p-cymene, as was proposed," Liao explained as quoted by the news outlet.
Professor Dudareva added that RNA sequencing helped discover novel pathways as it allows scientists to perform throughput gene expression analysis.
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