IIT scholars make strides in cancer drug research
Mandi, December 28
IIT-Madras and IIT-Mandi researchers have metabolically engineered plant cells of Nothapodytes nimmoniana, an endangered plant valued for its production of anti-cancer drug camptothecin. The researchers developed a genome-scale metabolic model for the plant cells using computational tools to increase the production of the anti-cancer drug at the Plant Cell Technology Lab of IIT-Madras.
A researcher said this could be a major advancement in the production of cancer-treating drugs. “They identified a microbe as a sustainable and high-yielding alternative source for the plant-derived anti-cancer drug camptothecin. Nearly 1,000 tons of plant material is required to extract just one ton of camptothecin” he said.
“Due to the extensive overharvesting of the plant for meeting market demands, the major plant sources are now red-listed as per the IUCN. The population of the plant has seen a decline of over 20 per cent in the last decade alone” he added.
“In the current research, the engineering of the plant cells using a genome-scale metabolic model was led by Sarayu Murali, a PhD student, IIT-Madras, Dr. Maziya Ibrahim, Computational Systems Biology Lab, IIT-Madras, Prof. Karthik Raman and Prof. Smita Srivastava, Department of Biotechnology, IIT-Madras, along with Dr. Shyam K. Masakapalli and Shagun Saini from the Metabolic Systems Biology lab, IIT-Mandi” he said. The research was funded by the Science and Engineering Board (SERB) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.
Prof. Smita Srivastava said, “The integration of metabolic engineering with bioprocess engineering principles can ensure enhanced and sustainable production of camptothecin to continuously meet its increasing market demand in minimum time and cost, in addition to natural resource conservation.”
“Cancer has been a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020 according to the WHO. In India, the number of cases is expected to rise to 15.7 lakh by 2025, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Cancer Registry Programme (ICMR-NCRP 2020). With cancer incidents increasing by the day, the demand for an enhanced production of anti-cancer drugs has been a compelling need of the hour” the professor added.
