Australian researches find new effective treatments to fight against cancer and epilepsy

Aussie scientists could be trialling some breakthrough treatments against diseases as cancer and epilepsy in five years after finding a protein that decides what gets through cell walls.

A series of compounds known as dynamin inhibitors being tested in the laboratory show promise for halting the uncontrolled cell growth that takes place in cancer. If the team can get another $5 million worth of funding they also hope to be able to turn the compounds into a candidate drug for epilepsy ready for human trials in the next five years.

More than 200,000 Australians suffer from epilepsy which is, in a 40 per cent of cases, unable to control the problem with the medicines that are available now. The research by Professor Phil Robinson, at the Children’s Medical Research Institute, and medicinal chemist, Professor Adam McCluskey at the University of Newcastle, has been funded by Genes for Jeans.

This almighty protein called “Dynamin” acts as a guardian of the cell wall and plays a role in the process of deciding whether viruses and infections can breach the cell. Dynamin is produced in the brain and also participates in over-firing of brain signals, a phenomenon seen in patients with epilepsy.

Professor Robinson believes that by controlling Dynamin it might be possible to control the release of neurotransmitters that cause epileptic fits. He now needs the money to test the most promising versions of the compounds in animals to establish their safety before human trials can start. The research teams believe these compounds will be useful in treating epilepsy, infectious diseases and cancer.

“Not all cancers, but a large number depend on endocytosis (the process that decides what gets in a cell or is kept out) to maintain uncontrolled cell growth,” Professor said. “Dynamin has a second role in allowing cancer cells to divide forever. What we’re trying to do now is to show which of the compounds are safe in animals so we can show it stops cancer in animals” Mister Ronbinson revealed.

by Santi Ivar

Sources:

Ntnews.com.au

cmri.org.au