News Briefs: June 2021
Treating COVID-19 with Anti-Cancer Drug
Berzosertib, a drug already in human trials for cancer therapy, may effectively treat COVID-19, according to a collaborative study led by UCLA scientists. In a series of experiments using different types of cells in lab dishes, the researchers found that berzosertib was effective in blocking the coronavirus’s ability to replicate and did not cause significant harm to cells. Berzosertib belongs to a class of therapies known as protein kinase inhibitors. Protein kinases are cellular enzymes that can turn specific proteins on or off. Compounds that inhibit specific protein kinases are increasingly being used to treat cancer because tumor cells use kinases to enhance their ability to grow. Scientists tested protein kinase inhibitors in cultures of coronavirus-infected cells, including from organs that COVID- 19 attacks; the kidney, heart, and lungs. The researchers pretreated cells with the drugs, exposed the cells to SARS-CoV-2, allowed 48 hours for infection to set in, then evaluated results. The investigations took place in a controlled high-security laboratory at UCLA that is designated for working with deadly microbes or viruses. Berzosertib consistently stalled the coronavirus’s replication without damaging cells. The scientists also tested the drug against the coronaviruses that cause the diseases SARS and MERS, both of which triggered deadly outbreaks earlier in the 2000s. They found that it was effective in stopping the replication of those viruses as well. The scientists aimed to block the coronavirus’s ability to replicate rather than attack the virus directly, because drugs that directly interfere with the virus are expected to have trouble keeping up with SARS-CoV 2’s propensity to mutate. According to study author Robert Damoiseaux, a UCLA professor of molecular and medical pharmacology and of bioengineering, “This is a chance to actually find a drug that might be broader in spectrum, which could also help fight coronaviruses that are yet to come.” The study, published in Cell Reports, included funding from the National Eye Institute and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Research is ongoing.
Unique Microbiome Associated with Healthy Aging
Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) researchers and their collaborators have identified distinct signatures in the gut microbiome that are associated with either healthy or unhealthy aging trajectories, which in turn predict survival in a population of older individuals, according to their study published in the journal Nature Metabolism. The research team analyzed gut microbiome and clinical data from over 900 community-dwelling older individuals (78-98 years old). The data showed that gut microbiomes became increasingly unique (i.e., increasingly divergent from others) as individuals aged, starting in mid-to-late adulthood. Strikingly, while microbiomes became increasingly unique to each individual in healthy aging, the metabolic functions the microbiomes were carrying out shared common traits. This gut “uniqueness signature” was highly correlated with several microbially-derived metabolites in blood plasma, including one called phenylacetylglutamine, which is highly elevated in the blood of centenarians. The uniqueness pattern suggests microbiome changes may not simply be diagnostic of healthy aging, but that they may also contribute directly to health as people age.
Support for Fecal Test as Colon Screening
New research published Jan. 19, 2021, in the British Journal of Cancer showed a simple fecal test can help identify who is at risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC), aiding early diagnosis and potentially saving lives. Researchers examined data from patients ages 50 and over who took the fecal immunochemical (FIT) test, which picks up traces of hidden blood in feces. Because the blood vessels in larger colorectal polyps or cancers are often fragile, they can be easily damaged by the passage of stool, and some blood may therefore appear in the feces. There’s seldom enough to see with the naked eye, but the FIT can check for hidden blood in the stool from the lower intestines. The test can conveniently be done at home. Colorectal cancer has a high mortality rate. According to the
American Cancer Society, the lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer is about 1 in 23 for men and 1 in 25 for women. Biennial FIT screening is associated with 34% fewer advanced CRC cases and 40% fewer CRC-related deaths.
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