The research into a chemical produced by a caterpillar fungus has revealed how it may work as a cancer treatment. It interrupts the cell growth signals that are overactive in cancer, an approach that could be less damaging to healthy tissues than most currently available treatments.

Scientists from the University of Nottingham’s School of Pharmacy have been studying how a parasitic fungus that grows on caterpillars could work as a potential treatment for a range of diseases by studying cordycepin, one of the drugs found in these mushrooms. The research has been published in the journal FEBS Letters.

The caterpillar fungi are famous in Asia as a health food and traditional medicine. Cordycepin, which is produced by Cordyceps militaris, a pretty orange fungus that infects caterpillars, has shown promise as a cancer medicine in a range of studies, but until now it has been unclear how it works.

Using high-throughput techniques the research team measured the effects of cordycepin on the activity of thousands of genes in multiple cell lines. The research compared the effects of cordycepin with those from other treatments deposited in databases and showed that it works by acting on the growth inducing pathways of the cell in all cases.

By studying what happens to cordycepin inside the cell, the team confirmed that cordycepin is converted to cordycepin triphosphate, an analogue of the cell’s energy carrier ATP. Cordycepin triphosphate was shown to be the likely cause of the effects on cell growth, and therefore the molecule that can directly affect cancer cells.

Dr Cornelia de Moor in the School of Pharmacy has led this research, she explains: “We have been researching the effects of cordycepin on a range of diseases for a number of years and with each step we get closer to understanding how it could be used as an effective treatment. One of the exciting things to have been happening is that it has become easier and less expensive to do these very large experiments, so we were able to examine thousands of genes at the same time.

Our data confirms that cordycepin is a good starting point for novel cancer medicines and explains its beneficial effects. For instance, derivatives of cordycepin could aim to produce the triphosphate form of the drug to have the same effect. In addition, the data will help with monitoring the effects of cordycepin in patients, as our data indicate particular genes whose activity reliably responds to cordycepin, which could for instance be measured in blood cells.”