Reham Abuhijjleh and Dalia Al Saeedy, who recently graduated from the Master of Science in Drug Discovery and Development program at the College of Pharmacy, along with their supervisor, Dr. Ahmed Al-Abd, have recently published their research on the potential of a marine-derived metabolite, Terrein, to enhance the anticancer properties of Gemcitabine (GCB) in colorectal cancer cells. The study, titled “Chemomodulatory Effect of the Marine-Derived Metabolite “Terrein” on the Anticancer Properties of Gemcitabine in Colorectal Cancer Cells,” was published in the esteemed journal Marine Drugs, which has an impact factor of 6.085 (Q1) and is published by MDPI.
The researchers aimed to assess the potential of Terrein to enhance the anticancer properties of GCB, a drug used to treat various tumors, including colorectal cancer, which often develops resistance to GCB. The researchers tested the effect of Terrein on three colorectal cancer cell lines (HCT-116, HT-29, and SW620) under normoxic and hypoxic (pO2 ≤ 1%) conditions. They assessed the antiproliferative and chemomodulatory effects of Terrein and its combination with GCB using flow cytometry, quantitative gene expression, and 1HNMR metabolomic analysis.
The results of the study showed that Terrein possessed antiproliferative and cytotoxic properties in colorectal cancer cells by interrupting various molecular pathways. Moreover, the combination treatment of Terrein and GCB showed a synergistic effect in HCT-116 and SW620 cell lines under normoxic conditions, inducing apoptosis in these cell lines. However, in HT-29, the combination treatment showed an antagonistic effect under both normoxic and hypoxic conditions.
The researchers also found that the change in oxygen levels significantly affected extracellular amino acid metabolite profiling. This finding sheds light on the role of intra-tumoral metabolism in the efficacy of anticancer treatments and opens up new avenues for further research.
The article can be accessed through the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/21/5/271