ASU Researcher Using Salmonella To Fight Cancer Cells

By Andrew Bernier
Published: Monday, April 20, 2015 - 5:05am
Updated: Monday, April 20, 2015 - 9:43am
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(Photo courtesy of mBio)
This image from the published research shows LPS phenotypes of salmonella mutants.

A Valley researcher is helping advance the use of a bacteria, which usually sickens people, in the fight against cancer.

Using genetically modified salmonella bacteria against tumors has been the focus of researchers for several years because salmonella cells are naturally attracted to tumors.

“Tumors have a lot of cell debris and other material which the salmonella could just, it’s like being in a candy store,” said Dr. Roy Curtiss of Arizona State University.

Curtiss said salmonella can kill cancer cells but hurts healthy tissue, too. Curtiss co-researched and recently published a study testing further genetic modification that weakens salmonella outside the tumor.

“We’ve altered the genetic makeup of the salmonella to invade cancer cells and also to kill them," said Curtiss. "But on the other hand, to be maximally susceptible to normal host defense mechanisms so that you’re not causing overt damage to healthy tissue.”

Salmonella cells divide and grow once an hour in nutrient-rich tumors, but in healthy tissue it divides nearly once a day.

After destroying cancerous cells, the further modified salmonella has been shown to degrade faster when left in a healthy host.

Science