By Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
One of the great challenges of modern medicine has been to eradicate cancer, or at least to prevent it from advancing without resorting to invasive processes. In view of this, the researcher Federico del Río Portilla believes that metastasis could be stopped thanks to a unique formulation, which uses scorpion venom.
The scientist belonging to the Institute of Chemistry of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), explained to the Gazette of the same institution that his work already has a patent application, which is in process.
Cancer is a disease that occurs when cells multiply uncontrollably and spread to surrounding tissues forming malignant tumors. When these tumors travel to other parts of the body and invade other organs, it is known as metastasis, which makes it more difficult to treat the disease, and it is precisely this process that Del Río Portilla's work focuses on.
Thus, the academic's discovery, which, he explained, only needs to be injected, prevents cancer cells from spreading, so that the tumor can be "encircled" and attacked more easily.
"As far as we have seen, there must be a series of special characteristics for there to be a cytotoxicity effect. If we manage to avoid migration and, in addition, it is no longer poison, this is very relevant, because it keeps the cancer under control. You inject it, it has no negative effects, but it is slowing down the cancer cells," he said.
The doctor's work is based on taking advantage of potassium channels (SK), since almost all cells have "pores" called ion channels, through which they feed chlorine, potassium or calcium, which give life to the cells.
To this family belong SK2 and SK3, ion channels that can be found in cells throughout the body, preferably in the nervous system. Among the functionalities they exert in different cell types of the body, SK channels are also widely involved in memory and learning processes.
Some migrating cancer cells have SK3 channels, which trigger the initial phase of metastasis.
A French group, with which the doctor's team collaborated, discovered that inhibiting these channels immobilizes these cancer cells.
Therefore, Del Río Portilla and his team targeted this specific channel and used a new therapy based on tamapine, a compound extracted from the venom of the scorpion Mesobuthus tamulus, or Indian red scorpion, to block it.
The researcher detailed that in 2016 Korean groups patented the use of tamapine to solve problems of attention deficit, which only acts on SK2 channels and does not have the ability to inhibit the migration of cancer cells, it has been used in mice with neurological problems, in which it has been seen that "it does solve them and even makes them smarter", as reported in 2020 by its creators in the journal Nature.
In contrast to that study, Del Río Portilla said that what his team did was to modify tamapine so that it does not block the SK2 channel, but the SK3 channel, which is related to cancer, "because if I inhibit it, some cancer cells no longer migrate.
This, he said, implies that the compound they have developed at UNAM will be very useful for the treatment of people in the future, especially those suffering from cancer that does not encapsulate and grows, dispersing itself.
Del Río Portilla said the compound is very stable, so it would be very useful for targeted treatments.
With respect to other alternatives, "what the drug does is to contain to give time for other molecules to prepare and defeat the enemy, that's what it does, it could be a drug of containment," he said.
It is worth mentioning that the university scientist won first place in the award granted by the Program for the Promotion of Patenting and Innovation.
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