The Healing Power of Curry? 29 January 2004 http://www.chemweb.com/alchem/articles/1066208903226.html
Curcumin, the main active ingredient in the curry spice turmeric, has been used in India as a household anti-inflammatory remedy for centuries. In recent years, scientists have discovered many other possible medicinal applications, especially against some kinds of cancers, writes Kelly Galin - Runner-up of the International Young Chemistry Writer of the Year Competition 2003.
This popular curry spice may someday migrate from spice racks to medicine cabinets, offering cancer patients an alternative treatment with no side effects.
"For cancer patients, a natural and harmless cure could drastically change the way we treat the disease."
For the past decade there has been a rapidly growing interest in curcumin's ability to fight cancer because it is safe and can be taken orally. For cancer patients, a natural and harmless cure could drastically change the way we treat the disease - and offer even more incentive to spice up your next meal. Recently, biochemists in South Korea determined for the first time how curcumin helps combat cancer. Researchers have known that curcumin slows cancer growth for some time, but until now, little has been known about how this actually works.
The molecule curcumin.
Ho Jeong Kwon, professor of Bioscience and Biotechnology at Sejong University, Seoul, and his research team screened 3000 compounds from natural products in an attempt to find inhibitors of aminopeptidase N (APN), an enzyme that plays a key role in tumour invasion and angiogenesis. Curcumin was among those compounds screened, and was identified as an irreversible inhibitor of APN.
The Spice of Life
The leafy plant, Curcuma Longa. Reprinted with permission from David Skinner. �1999-2004. David Skinner, GingersRus.com.
What exactly is curcumin? Curcumin is a phenolic natural product isolated from the rhizome - or underground stem that sends out roots - of the leafy plant Curcuma longa (turmeric). Closely related to the ginger family, turmeric is a spice used in curries, and can be found all over India and other parts of Asia. India is the primary exporter of turmeric, providing almost 80% of the world's supply. In India, curry does not come as a powder - as in many western countries - but rather as a subtle mixture of spices like turmeric, cardamom, ginger, coriander, nutmeg, black pepper, red pepper, and poppy seed. British colonists in India developed curry powder, a mixture of many spices, so they could easily transport the spices to make Indian dishes in England.
Curcumin, the yellow colouring ingredient in turmeric, not only gives your favorite curry powder its colour, but also has cancer-fighting abilities that have been proven by its newly discovered ability to inhibit APN, a membrane-bound, zinc-dependent metalloproteinase. APN breaks apart proteins at the cell's surface, offering cancer cells help invading nearby cells. Researchers believe this ectoenzyme is important in metastatic tumour cell invasion. In other words, this enzyme may be one of the main contributors to the spread of cancer. APN also plays a significant role in angiogenesis. Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, is essential for tumor growth and the transmission of cancerous cells from the original site to new ones. Past studies have shown that curcumin can arrest angiogenesis, leading researchers to enter the chemopreventitive agent into Phase I clinical trials for cancer chemoprevention by the National Cancer Institute.
Scurry for Curry
Once curcumin was identified as an inhibitor of APN, Kwon and his team began searching for more answers. To demonstrate the direct interaction between curcumin and APN, the group confirmed both in vivo and in vitro by surface plasmon resonance analysis and an antibody competition assay. Several derivatives of curcumin were also tested, and bestatin, a known APN inhibitor, demonstrated the most potent inhibitory activity. In the future, it may be possible to develop potent derivatives of curcumin to fight APN and its effects.
So curcumin inhibits APN, but how does this actually work? Well, there is still much work to be done. Scientists are continuing to search for the way curcumin binds to APN, although Kwon does suggest a possible mode of binding. Studies suggest curcumin's ?,?-unsaturated ketones are critical for binding to the target proteins. Kwon believes these ketones may be covalently linked to nucleophilic amino acid residues in APN's active site.
"For some time, researchers have been studying the health benefits of curry."
For some time, researchers have been studying the health benefits of curry. Turmeric has been used traditionally in Ayurvedic Indian medicine to improve overall health by naturally treating arthritis, inflammation - and it has even believed to aid in digestion. There is little doubt that this curry spice has healing powers, but the discovery of curcumin's anticancer properties opens new doors for future research. Curcumin is believed to help combat breast cancer, colon cancer, stomach cancer, and even blood cancer. Currently, curcumin can be purchased in pill form as a dietary supplement in health stores. There is also evidence turmeric may aid in treatment of many other diseases and ailments including alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, and even radiation burns.
People in some countries with diets rich in curry may have been reaping tumeric's health benefits for years. Various studies conducted in recent years show people living in countries such as India and Pakistan, where they consume large amounts of curry, have a lower incidence of certain kinds of cancers. Many believe India's low rate of alzheimer's disease can be attributed to their large consumption of turmeric.
Surprisingly, turmeric and aspirin have many similarities. Not only are they both used as anti-inflammatory drugs, there is also mounting evidence pointing to their ability to inhibit certain cancer causing enzymes. In a recent study, a group at the University of California San Diego demonstrated curcumin's ability to inhibit cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), an enzyme known to be present in colon tumours. Curcumin could eventually be favoured over aspirin as an inhibitor because it has virtually no side effects, even with prolonged use.
Perhaps the ultimate cure for cancer lies on our dinner plates. Curcumin may become a safe and viable alternative to other cancer treatments in the near future. Researchers have taken a great interest in substances that occur naturally in normal diets because they may inhibit cancers with minimal toxicity. Studies show that certain diets play an important role in minimizing the cancer death rate - even as much as 90%. Cancer prevention may be as simple and tasty as a large helping of curry chicken.
References
R. Pasqualini, E. Koivunen, R. Kain, J. Lahdenranta, M. Sakamoto, A. Stryhn, R. Ashmun, L. Shapiro, W. Arap & E. Ruoslahti. Aminopeptidase N Is a receptor for tumor-homing peptides and a target for inhibiting agniogenesis. Cancer Res 2000, 60:722-727.
A. Goel, C. Boland & D. Chauhan. Specific inhibition of cylclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression by dietary curcumin in HT-29 human colon cancer cells. Cancer Letters 2001, 172:111-118.
Jo Shim, Jin Hee Kim, Hyun Young Cho, Young Na Yum, Seung Hee Kim, Hyun-Ju Park, Bum Sang Shim, Seung Hoon Choi & Ho Jeong Kwon. Irreversible inhibition of CD13/aminopeptidase N by the antiangiogenic agent curcumin. Chemistry and Biology 2003, 10(8):695-704.
Biography
Kelly Galin: earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and an english minor from the University of South Carolina in December 2003. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career in both chemistry and science writing. When not writing, she enjoys travelling and reading. She lives in Columbia, South Carolina.
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