Colicins and their potential in cancer treatment
2007 | journal article; research paper. A publication with affiliation to the University of Göttingen.
Jump to: Cite & Linked | Documents & Media | Details | Version history
Documents & Media
Details
- Authors
- Lancaster, Lorna E.; Wintermeyer, Wolfgang ; Rodnina, Marina
- Abstract
- Colicins are a family of antibacterial cytotoxins produced by Escherichia coli and released into the environment to reduce competition from other bacterial strains. Colicins kill the target cell by a variety of effects that include depolarisation of the cytoplasmic membrane, a non-specific DNase activity, a highly specific RNase activity or by inhibition of murein synthesis. This review summarises some important findings that implicate colicins as potential anti-tumor agents. Colicins appear to inhibit proliferation of tumor cell lines in a colicin-type- and cell line-dependent fashion and are more toxic to tumor cells than to normal cells within the body. This opens a potential for using bacterial colicins in combating cancer and raises a number of questions concerning the mechanism of action of colicins in targeting tumor cells, their specificity and applicability as anti-tumor therapeutics. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
- Issue Date
- 2007
- Publisher
- Academic Press Inc Elsevier Science
- Journal
- Blood Cells, Molecules, and Diseases
- ISSN
- 1079-9796