Researchers have discovered cancer-fighting potential in a critically endangered species of tree.<\/p>\n
Three Chinese fir trees on a nature reserve in southeastern China are the last of their kind. Chemists in China were initially studying the trees, Abies beshanzuensis<\/em>, to look for molecules that might be able to treat diabetes and obesity.<\/p>\n
Using only bark and needles that fell from the trees, in order to not further disturb the small population, researchers found that the tree’s makeup wasn’t as effective as they’d hoped in treating these diseases.<\/p>\n
“This could improve some of the cancer drugs used today…”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The tree’s healing powers looked grim until Mingji Dai, an organic chemist at Purdue University, started tinkering with some of its molecules in his lab. His team created synthetic versions of two, and then a few analogs, which have minor structural modifications.<\/p>\n
In collaboration with Zhong-Yin Zhang, professor of medicinal chemistry, he found that one of the synthetic analogs was a potent and selective inhibitor of SHP2, an increasingly popular target for cancer treatment. The findings appear in the Journal of the American Chemical Society<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n
Source: Purdue University <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"