Common weeds related to cabbage can stop cancer in its tracks

Alessandra Devoto, professor at Royal Holloway, University of London, and colleagues tested for exposure to leaves of this weed known as Arabidopsis thalianacould stop breast cancer cells from growing in the lab.

Interestingly, the cancer cells only stopped growing when sections of Arabidopsis leaf (also known as Thale cress) were exposed to cancer cells and non-cancer cells. Many cancer treatments can also be quite toxic to healthy cells in the body. Hence, finding treatments that target cancer cells only can make a big difference for patients.

“The plant is very similar to the Cinderella in the medicinal plant world – nobody thought it was anything special, but our research has shown it to be true. The discovery has important implications for the development of therapies for cancer and other diseases, ”said Devoto.

A number of modern cancer drugs have their origins in the plant world. For example, paclitaxel, also known as taxol, is chemotherapy used to treat a variety of cancers, including breast, ovarian, and lung cancers. Its active ingredient comes from the Pacific yew tree, which was first isolated in 1971.

The Brassica plant family includes numerous crops and foods, including cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, canola, mustard and many others, as well as Arabidopsis. In recent years a number of bioactive chemicals with anti-cancer properties have been extracted from these plants. For example, sulforaphane – a chemical found in broccoli sprouts, kale, cabbage, and watercress.

“I chose Arabidopsis because it belongs to the cabbage family and could contain similar compounds,” commented Devoto.

Although Arabidopsis thaliana is edible, like most brassicas, is not commonly eaten, and is widely considered an invasive weed. Its most common use is in scientific laboratories dealing with plant genetics, as it is widely used as a model organism for research. In particular, it has not previously been believed to have medicinal properties.

The team decided to treat the Arabidopsis leaves with jasmonate hormone to boost the plant and its effects.

“Jasmonate is a natural plant hormone, a substance found in jasmine that enhances the plant’s response to stress and is a powerful trigger for specialized metabolites in plants, some of which are anticancer drugs,” said Devoto.

This work is in its early stages, but it is interesting that a plant that has been used extensively in laboratories for many years has been shown to have anti-cancer properties.

Only the effects of Arabidopsis leaf samples on breast cancer cells were examined in this study. However, Devoto believes that there is no particular reason why anti-cancer effects are limited to breast cancer only.

“We look forward to continuing our collaboration to identify plant chemicals that disrupt breast cancer cells as well as other diseases and to advance that research by raising more funds to help society on a larger scale,” she concluded.

“The continuation of the work will depend on various variables such as: B. the connection chemistry and the effectiveness of the availability of funds. ”