Brazil innovates with discovery of a cure for cancer from tick saliva

Brazilian researchers discovered that a protein found in tick saliva for being the solution to eliminate cancer cells. coordinated by Dr. Ana Marisa Chudzinski Tavassi, the team of Biochemistry Laboratory of the Butantan Institute found the anti-tumor substance by chance, as this was not the initial focus of the group's research.

“We started by studying tick saliva in search of anticoagulants”, explains Ana Marisa. “As the tick is a hematophagous, which sucks blood to live, it must have something in its saliva that prevents clotting – and that was what we were looking for.”

As you might imagine, collecting tick saliva is no easy task. After initial tests with the species Amblyomma Cajennense, the researcher decided to make a recombinant protein from genes found in the animal's salivary glands. “Based on the already known literature, we chose a sequence that could inhibit a clotting factor,” she says.

In other words, the Dr. Ana Marisa and his team chose a gene and reproduced it so that, in a bacterium, it began to express the desired recombinant protein. By studying what they had created, they not only found that the protein was really capable of inhibiting clotting, they also discovered references that it interfered with cell proliferation.

The next step was to test this protein in normal cells and tumor cells, and this is where the findings really surprised the researchers. “In normal cells, the protein did not induce anything, on the other hand, in tumor cells, it caused a toxic activity that led to death”, says the scientist.

Moving on to more concrete tests, the team treated mice with melanoma with the developed protein. After 42 days, the skin tumors were completely eliminated and the guinea pigs remained healthy, living normally in the laboratory after treatment.

“We saw that this protein has a cellular target: it induces the cell to undergo programmed death, as it has a series of signals that inhibit transcription to the nucleus,” he explains. Ana Marisa. Unable to reproduce or perform their basic functions, cancer cells die.

The research was sent for approval and is awaiting publication in several vehicles. “I still don't know which ones will come out, so it's better not to generate expectations by telling them”, says the researcher.

Despite the major scientific implications, the study now finds itself at an impasse. What the team has done so far is call proof of concept, and basically summarizes all possible tests performed in the laboratory.

However, to find out if the treatment works in humans, it is necessary to go through a series of experiments called pre-clinical analyzes. “Here in Brazil, for historical reasons, the pharmaceutical industry does not invest in this type of technology for a simple reason: juridical insecurity“, He says.

The researcher explains that the discoveries made in public institutions are bound by law, which makes the relationship between public and private in the country difficult. “We've been working on this for six years. We would have time to say whether or not this technique works in humans, as there is money and people interested. We didn’t do it because of the legal issue,” she says.

A Dr. Ana Marisa, however, does not believe that there is anyone to blame for the delay. Determined to resolve the impasse, she says her team is trying to resolve the legal issues to “make this public/private relationship simple, good, and win-win.”

Source: Laucea Ramos de Oliveira, Butantan Institute.