Uncovering Nature's Secrets: The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology
Key Highlights :
The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology is home to a vast collection of natural specimens containing thousands of bacterial strains, some of which may hold the key to unlocking new treatments for human diseases. Last week, a team led by chemist Ben Shen, Ph.D., published a paper in Nature Chemical Biology describing the discovery of two new enzymes with uniquely useful properties. These cofactorless oxygenases, as they are known, enable the bacteria to produce compounds for targeting and breaking up DNA, potentially making them invaluable tools in the fight against cancer and other diseases.
The discovery of these enzymes solves a lingering mystery regarding the production of a potential antibiotic and anticancer compound called tiancimycin A. This compound was first discovered in 2016 in a soil-dwelling bacteria, but the scientists were unable to understand how the bacteria managed to break three highly stable carbon-carbon bonds and replace them with more reactive carbon-oxygen bonds. With the discovery of the two enzymes, TnmJ and TnmK2, the mystery has been solved.
Tiancimycin A is now being developed as part of a cancer-targeting antibody therapy, but a critical step in using it as an antibody's payload is making enough of it to study it at a larger scale. This is where the discovery of the two enzymes proves invaluable, as they offer scientists new ways to create useful things. The enzymes enable the bacteria to produce compounds for targeting and breaking up DNA, making them immensely useful in fighting off a virus or other germ—or killing cancer.
The contribution of bacterial chemicals to the history of drug discovery is remarkable, and nearly half of the FDA-approved antibiotics and anticancer drugs on the market are natural products or are inspired by them. With modern genomic technologies and computational tools, scientists are now able to understand the fascinating chemistry and enzymology of natural products at unprecedented speed.
The discovery of the new cofactorless enzymes has sparked new excitement about further investigating the reasons the unique chemistry evolved, and the ways it may prove useful. By studying the 125,000 bacterial strains housed in the Natural Products Discovery Center collection, scientists may uncover even more potential treatments for human diseases.
Nature is the best chemist, and its secrets may hold the key to developing new medicines that could save lives. The discovery of the two new enzymes is a testament to the importance of exploring the natural world and learning from what it has to offer.
