Could fungi become sources for new drugs to treat a myriad of diseases and disorders? Researchers at the Hubrecht Institute in the Netherlands aim to find out.
Could fungi become sources for new drugs to treat a myriad of diseases and disorders? Researchers at the Hubrecht Institute in the Netherlands aim to find out.
The scientists from Hubrecht Institute as well as researchers from the Westerdijk Institute, part of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, have established a library of more than 10,000 fungi-based products as a potential source of new medications. Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute is home to the largest collection of live fungi in the world. The fungi products are being screened for biologically active compounds. According to the university, the researchers tested the biological activity of these fungal products first using zebrafish embryos. The embryos were selected because it allows the analysis of effects on many cell types at the same time, in a working body, and because zebrafish are physiologically very similar to humans, the researchers said in their announcement. Zebrafish are vertebrates that are physiologically very similar to humans and are often used to test drugs for a variety of disorders. Within a few days, these embryos develop most of their organs, making biological activity of the fungal compounds readily detectable, they said. In addition, comparison to known drugs may result in the identification of new drugs and also point towards the underlying mechanisms of action of these compounds, the university said.
The scientific team explained that fungi are an “excellent but underexplored source” for new therapeutic compounds. This method has already resulted in the discovery of one known compound, the cholesterol-lowering drug lovastatin, which is, a compound produced by the fungus Aspergillus terreus.
“Every year new compounds produced by fungi are identified, but so far we have only investigated a very small subset of all existing fungi. This suggests that many more biologically active compounds remain to be discovered,” Jelmer Hoeksma, one of the researchers at the Hubrecht Institute said in a statement.
According to the announcement, the researchers found 1526 filtrates that contain biologically active compounds with an effect on zebrafish embryos, from which they selected 150 filtrates for further analysis. Out of those, the team isolated 34 known compounds. They discovered that the fungus Resinicium furfuraceum produces lovastatin, something that had not been known.
In addition, the researchers found filtrates that affect pigmentation in zebrafish embryos. Factors involved in pigmentation can also play a crucial role in the development of skin cancer, the researchers explained. Now, the team is isolating the active compounds that cause pigmentation defects in zebrafish embryos from the filtrates.
The results of the study from the researchers were published this morning in the scientific journal Scientific Reports.
“The large library of fungal filtrates that we have set up can also be tested in many other systems, such as models for antibiotic resistance in bacteria and tumor development, making this study only the tip of the iceberg,” Hoeksma added.
