CRAWL TO CURE: Caterpillar fungus delays growth of cancer cells, researchers say

A team of scientists from the University of Nottingham’s School of Pharmacy discovered that a parasitic fungus that grows on caterpillars is able to delay the growth of cancer cells.

The study, published on November 7, titled “Cordycepin generally inhibits growth factor signal transduction in a systems pharmacology study” explored this fungus as a potential treatment for a range of diseases, including cancer.

This parasitic fungus known as Cordyceps militaris, produces a chemical called Cordycepin, an orange fungi that infects caterpillars.

Cordyceps is a rare fungus situated in the high-altitude regions of the Himalayas and it is popular in traditional Chinese medicine for its health benefits.

A component of cordyceps, called cordycepin, is similar to a molecule in human cells called adenosine, but is lacking 3’ hydroxyl group, which makes it behave dissimilar compared to adenosine in biological systems.

The researchers tested how cordycepin affects the activity of thousands of genes in different cell types and compared the effects of cordycepin to other treatments.

It was found that cordycepin influences cell growth signals in all the cells tested.

As cordycepin enters a cell, it is changed to another form called cordycepin triphosphate, similar to adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is a molecule that carries energy in cells.

Cordycepin triphosphate was likely to be the cause of the effects on cell growth, which means that it can directly affect cancer cells and potentially stop their growth.

"Our data confirms that cordycepin is a good starting point for novel cancer medicines and explains its beneficial effects,” Cornelia de Moor from the School of Pharmacy said.

“For instance, derivatives of cordycepin could aim to produce the triphosphate form of the drug to have the same effect,” de Moor said.

The lead researcher of the study also said that “the data will help with monitoring the effects of cordycepin in patients, as our data indicate particular genes whose activity reliably responds to cordycepin, which could, for instance, be measured in blood cells."