<DIV>Blend Folk treatment ---------</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Sounds good.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>But whether the traditional healers or community from where basic knowledge has emerged are going to get any type of benefit,recognition or honour from the modern science and researchers ? OR the profit will remain only with the researchers and the companies involved?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Pankaj Oudhia <BR><BR><B><I>Sonya <msredsonya@earthlink.net></I></B> wrote:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">*Researchers* Blend Folk Treatment, High Tech for Promising Anti *...* <BR><BR>Newswise (press release) - USA<BR>Newswise -- *Researchers* at the University of Washington have blended <BR>the past with the present in the fight against cancer, synthesizing a <BR>promising new *...<BR><BR>http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/509720/<BR><BR><BR>Source: University of Washington Released: Tue 08-Feb-2005, 16:10 ET<BR>Researchers Blend Folk Treatment, High Tech for Promising Anti-cancer <BR>Compound<BR><BR><BR>Newswise — Researchers at the University of Washington have blended the <BR>past with the present in the fight against cancer, synthesizing a <BR>promising new compound from an ancient Chinese remedy that uses cancer <BR>cells' rapacious appetite for iron to make them a target.<BR><BR>The substance, artemisinin, is derived from the wormwood plant and has <BR>been used in China since
ancient times to treat malaria. Earlier work by <BR>Henry Lai and Narendra Singh, both UW bioengineers, indicated that <BR>artemisinin alone could selectively kill cancer cells while leaving <BR>normal cells unharmed.<BR><BR>The new compound appears to vastly improve that deadly selectivity, <BR>according to a new study that appeared in a recent issue of the journal <BR>Life Sciences. In addition to Lai and Singh, co-authors include Tomikazu <BR>Sasaki and Archna Messay, both UW chemists.<BR><BR>"By itself, artemisinin is about 100 times more selective in killing <BR>cancer cells as opposed to normal cells," Lai said. "In this study, the <BR>new artemisinin compound was 34,000 times more potent in killing the <BR>cancer cells as opposed to their normal cousins. So the tagging process <BR>appears to have greatly increased the potency of artemisinin’s <BR>cancer-killing properties."<BR><BR>The compound has been licensed to Chongqing Holley Holdings and Holley <BR>Pharmaceuticals, its
U.S. subsidiary, to be developed for possible use <BR>in humans. Although the compound is promising, officials say, potential <BR>use for people is still years away.<BR><BR>In the study, researchers exposed human leukemia cells and white blood <BR>cells to the compound. While the leukemia cells quickly died, the white <BR>blood cells remained essentially unharmed.<BR><BR>The trick to the compound's effectiveness, according to Lai, appears to <BR>be in taking advantage of how cancer cells function.<BR><BR>Because they multiply so rapidly, most cancer cells need more iron than <BR>normal cells to replicate DNA. To facilitate that, cancer cells have <BR>inlets on their surface, known as transferrin receptors, in greater <BR>numbers than other cells. Those receptors allow quick transport into the <BR>cell of transferrin, an iron-carrying protein found in blood.<BR><BR>In creating the compound, researchers bound artemisinin to transferrin <BR>at the molecular level. The combination of
the two ingredients appears <BR>to fool the cancer cell.<BR><BR>"We call it a Trojan horse because the cancer cell recognizes <BR>transferrin as a natural, harmless protein," Lai said. "So the cell <BR>picks up the compound without knowing that a bomb – artemisinin – is <BR>hidden inside."<BR><BR>Once inside the cell, the artemisinin reacts with the iron, spawning <BR>highly reactive chemicals called "free radicals." The free radicals <BR>attack other molecules and the cell membrane, breaking it apart and <BR>killing the cell.<BR><BR>According to Lai, that process is what initially piqued his interest in <BR>artemisinin about 10 years ago. The wormwood extract was used centuries <BR>ago in China, but the treatment became lost over time. In the 1970s, it <BR>was rediscovered as part of an ancient manuscript containing medical <BR>remedies, including a recipe that used a wormwood extract. The medical <BR>community soon discovered that the extract, artemisinin, worked well <BR>against
malaria, and it is currently used for that purpose throughout <BR>Asia and Africa.<BR><BR>Artemisinin combats malaria because the malaria parasite collects high <BR>iron concentrations as it metabolizes hemoglobin in the blood. As <BR>science began to understand how artemisinin functioned, Lai said, he <BR>began to wonder if the process had implications for cancer treatment.<BR><BR>"I started thinking that maybe we could use this knowledge to <BR>selectively target cancer cells," he said. "So far, the outlook appears <BR>good."<BR><BR>The next step in development under the Holley licensing agreement will <BR>likely be testing in animals and, if that pans out, human trials to <BR>gauge the compound's effectiveness. The current study was funded by the <BR>Artemisinin Research Foundation and Chongqing Holley Holdings.<BR><BR><BR>The article is available on-line at <BR>http://www.sciencedirect.com/science. Click the "journals" button and <BR>look under Life Sciences, Volume 76, Issue
11. The article is No. 9 on <BR>the Web page (page 1267-1279).<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>*<BR><BR>-- <BR>Sonya PLoS Medicine <BR>The open-access general medical journal from the Public Library of Science <BR>Inaugural issue: Autumn 2004 Share your discoveries with the world. <BR>http://www.plosmedicine.org <BR><BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>MPWG mailing list<BR>MPWG@lists.plantconservation.org<BR>http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/mpwg_lists.plantconservation.org<BR><BR>To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to MPWG-request@lists.plantconservation.org with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.<BR><BR>Disclaimer <BR>Any advice given on this list regarding diagnosis or treatments etc. reflects ONLY the opinion of the individual who posts the message. The information contained in posts is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice relative to your specific medical condition or question. All medical and other
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