Abstract
A57
Previous studies from the Cancer Biology Research Laboratory identified primitive plants of moss, fern and lichen species with anti-cancer activities. Current research involves the extraction of a lipid-containing fraction from the ostrich fern, Matteucia struthiopteris, with 1,000-fold greater anti-cancer activity than whole plant aqueous homogenates in pre-clinical assays of microtumors prepared from several solid tumor malignancies, including drug-resistant glioblastoma multiforme. Confocal laser microscopy of phalloidin-stained tumor cells demonstrated that a primary effect of the plant extracts is the disruption of cortical actin cytoskeleton in the cell membrane. This represents a previously unrecognized therapeutic target for anti-cancer agents.
The targeted actin-cytoskeleton may also comprise a novel chemopreventive target. A novel biophysical model, proposed by Crawford, suggests that the active lipid fraction may affect cytoskeletal integrity as a consequence of the interaction of plant isoprenoids and dolichols on tumor membrane fluidity. Increased membrane fluidity may interfere with the dynamic assembly of actin cytoskeletal components essential to cell motility and focal adhesions essential for tumor viability and metastasis.
*Patent pending 2008
Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2008;1(7 Suppl):A57.
Seventh AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research-- Nov 16-19, 2008; Washington, DC
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