{"id":158082,"date":"2023-07-11T17:34:28","date_gmt":"2023-07-11T17:34:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/?p=158082"},"modified":"2024-12-10T17:28:36","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T23:28:36","slug":"teresita-plant-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/teresita-plant-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Chromosomal sequencing of \u201cteresita” plant helps in the fight against cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Although Catharanthus roseus<\/em> or \u201cMadagascar periwinkle\u201d is a plant that can be found even on the roadside, one of its compounds is listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an essential medicine for treating cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carlos Eduardo Rodr\u00edguez L\u00f3pez<\/a>, a biotechnology researcher at School of Engineering and Sciences<\/a> at Tec de Monterrey, explains that vinblastine is too complex a compound to be created in a laboratory, which is why studies have been carried out for decades to understand how the Madagascar periwinkle plant manages to produce this compound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the plant is very common, it takes more than 2,000 kilograms of dried leaves to produce 1 gram of this compound. The 2019 cancer drug shortage \u2212which lasted until 2021\u2212 was mainly due to delays in the supply of vinblastine, according to the Mexican Association of Pediatric Oncohematology (AMOHP, in Spanish).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vinblastine is a chemotherapy drug used to treat different types of cancer, including lymphoma, bladder, breast, and testicular cancer, as well as Kaposi’s sarcoma. It is also recommended for treating childhood cancer care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a compound that belongs to a class of drugs called vinca alkaloids, which works by slowing or stopping the growth of cancer cells in the body<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the plant alone can\u2019t benefit cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, only the isolated compound. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anti-cancer agents from nature<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Along with researcher Delia Serna Guerrero<\/a>, who is also from the Tec, Rodr\u00edguez L\u00f3pez is participating in multidisciplinary research with the aim of understanding the chemical process performed by<\/a> Catharanthus roseus<\/em><\/a> to produce vinblastine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe achieved chromosome-level sequencing. Using various technologies, we can isolate a single cell and sequence it to see what instructions are running in that leaf cell,\u201d explains Rodr\u00edguez L\u00f3pez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since cells are different depending on their function and location, the researchers were able to understand how vinblastine is produced by looking at three cell types within the leaf. In order to explain this, the biotechnology specialist uses the metaphor of the production line in a factory:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are specialized workers on the production line. When we were figuring it out, we saw that it\u2019s split into three different parts. There\u2019s the one that\u2019s close to the leaf\u2019s veins; this then passes on production to those that are in the epidermis; and then there are the idioblasts, which are the warehouses where the product (vinblastine) ends up,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the Madagascar periwinkle still retains some mystery because we don\u2019t know exactly why it produces vinblastine. One of the future aims of this research is to understand why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe methodology is also important so that we can now begin applying it to other plants. It\u2019s like a map in which we\u2019ve now reached single-cell resolution,\u201d says Rodr\u00edguez L\u00f3pez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>He says that the plant could be modified in the future so as to produce greater amounts of vinblastine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This species produces vinblastine which is used in chemotherapy; researchers are studying it in the hope that it will produce more of this substance in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":158101,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[207,224,135],"class_list":["post-158082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-cancer-research","tag-health","tag-school-of-engineering-and-sciences"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChromosomal sequencing of \u201cteresita" plant helps in the fight against cancer | TecScience<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This species produces vinblastine which is used in chemotherapy; researchers are studying it in the hope that it will produce more of this substance in the future.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/teresita-plant-cancer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chromosomal sequencing of \u201cteresita" plant helps in the fight against cancer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This species produces vinblastine which is used in chemotherapy; 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