Vietnamese scientist discovers anti-cancer agents from rice husks
Tokyo (VNA) – Vietnamese scientist Prof.
Dr. Tran Dang Xuan and his colleagues at Hiroshima University in Japan have
discovered anti-cancer agents in rice husks.
The research titled ‘Cytotoxic Mechanism of
Momilactones A and B against Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia and Multiple Myeloma
Cell Lines’ was published on Cancers magazine in October this
year.
This is the first study clarifying the
cytotoxic mechanism of Momilactones A (MA) and Momilactones B (MB) on acute promyelocytic
leukemia (APL) HL-60 and multiple myeloma (MM) U266 cell lines.
Besides, these compounds may induce G2 phase
arrest in the HL-60 cell cycle through the activation of p-38 and disruption of
CDK1 and cyclin B1 complex.
This finding provides novel insights into the anticancer property of Momilactones, which can be a premise for future studies and development of Momilactone-based anti-cancer medicines.
The Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry in Hiroshimas University led by Xuan is one of the few laboratories in the world that can purify Momilactones from natural sources such as rice. In a study in 2019, the group discovered
and successfully extracted 600 mg of MA and MB from 30kg of rice husks.
The scientist said many pharmaceutical companies inside and outside Japan are working
with his team to extract MA and MB for developing medicines to boost the immune
system, anti-cancer medicines, those for treating diabetes, and cosmetics./.