Marine Sponge Molecule Found to Inhibit Cervical Cancer Growth

A study has discovered the use of a molecule from sponges in treating cervical cancer. These organisms appear in Manado Bay in Indonesia, and they produce a molecule known as manzamine A, which has been found to stop cervical cancer cell growth. 

The research was recently published in the Journal of Natural Products by scientists from the MUSC or Medical University of South Carolina together with investigators and students from the Indonesian Gadjah Mada University, the Malaysian University of Malaya, the College of Charleston, and the UofSC or the University of South Carolina.

From the estimates of The American Cancer Society, a total of 13,800 new cervical cancer cases with 4,290 deaths will arise this year. Indeed, HPV vaccinations and pap tests have lessened incidences and deaths, yet this type of cancer nonetheless persists as the fourth most prevalent cancer type in women.

The study focused on manzamine A's cancer cell-killing and growth-inhibiting properties in four various cell lines of cervical cancer. Manzamine A inhibited the cells' growth and killed some of them, but did not harm normal, non-cancerous cells.

Manzamine A has previously shown potential in controlling malaria, adding that most anti-cancer therapies, pain medications, and antibiotics come from natural products. This claim is according to Smart State Charles and Carol Cooper Endowed Chair in Pharmacy, MUSC Dept. of Drug Discovery & Biomedical Sciences professor, and study co-senior author Mark T. Hamann.

In a previous study, Hamann and his fellow investigators identified other compounds derived from sponges that are effective against pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, and melanoma. Manzamine A is useful against the malarial parasite, which led to a cure for rodents. Interestingly, analogs from these drugs are considered candidates for curing COVID-19.

In Hamann's current study, manzamine A was found to reduce the expression of a protein that is highly expressed in cervical as well as other types of cancers. Using computer modeling, the researchers found that manzamine A has a similar structure with other compounds that can inhibit the protein, except that the former blocks the said protein ten times more effectively.

Consequently, the molecule has been subject to several patents, and preparations for a start-up company is underway. Hamann reveals that the next thing to do includes the establishment of clinical relevance. He states that it should be tested in animals, after which testing for clinical applications and other developments will follow.

Hamann thinks that the best way to produce manzamine A is through sponge farming because farming can actually help clean the environment. He adds that synthetic forms of the molecules need petroleum-based starting materials for production. Thus, farming sponges would be the best way, as it also opens economic opportunities for rural Indonesian communities.

Hamann revealed that finding new therapeutic compounds from nature depends upon species diversity and their preservation. Higher species diversity means more chemicals can be discovered for treating cancers. However, he added, if climate change cannot be stopped, we are poised to lose a third of all species worldwide, along with such compounds helpful in discovering new strategies in the fight to beat cancer.