Yew trees are coniferous trees of the genus Taxus, which bark is used to produce a chemotherapy drug called paclitaxel (taxol). The active ingredient of this drug blocks the multiplication of cancer cells. Unfortunately, to achieve an industrial production yew trees must be cut down and their recovery takes several years, besides the biotechnological production of this molecule still needs to be optimized.
The Plant Biotechnology: Phytopharmaceuticals Production group of the University of Barcelona (UB) is dedicated to found solutions for these problems. The Mexican researcher, Karla Ramírez Estrada, collaborated in the project to improve the biotechnological production of taxol and derived taxanes, and also achieved the characterization of an enzyme that is part of the metabolism of the plant and is involved in the biosynthesis of this anticancer molecule.
Ramírez Estrada is a pharmacological biologist and chemist from the Autonomous University of Nuevo León (UANL) and Master in Sciences from the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute (CINVESTAV) Irapuato. She arrived at the UB to do an experimental master’s degree in Pharmacy and a PhD in Biotechnology. The following year, she joined the Center for Reserca in Agrigenomics (CRAG), a Catalan consortium of scientific entities that includes the UB.
“Taxol and related taxanes are secondary plant metabolites that have proven their effectiveness in preventing the division of cancer cells, especially in the lung, ovary and breast. However, in order to obtain them, it is necessary to cut down the trees from which it is obtained; this is why biotechnological production from cells of that plant is used in the laboratory,” said Ramírez Estrada.
She explained that as part of the project at the UB, she participated in two areas: On the one hand, she participated in the combination of two eliciting molecules to improve the biotechnological production of taxol in cells of two species of Taxus, with good results. In the other, she was part of the scientific team that performed the functional analysis of a gene that is part of the taxol biosynthetic pathway.
“This study demonstrated, confirming in silico predictions, that there is a gene that codes for a protein that is located in the cytosol and that is involved in one of the last stages of the taxane biosynthetic pathway.”
“Both studies together can help contribute to the creation of new and better sustainable production systems of taxol and related taxanes, through elicitation systems or genetic engineering“, detailed Ramírez Estrada.
Source: Agencia ID
