TASS reports that scientists from the Novosibirsk Institute of Organic Chemistry named after N.N. Vorozhtsov and the Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine (ICBFM), both of which are part of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, have developed and patented a new glycyrrhizic acid-based compound obtained from licorice root. The development aims to solve a key problem in modern medicine: multidrug resistance in tumors, which is common in oncological diseases and decreases the effectiveness of chemotherapy.
According to the patent, the new compound effectively blocks P-glycoprotein, which acts as a “molecular pump” that removes chemotherapeutic drugs from cancer cells. Tests on cell cultures proved that the Novosibirsk scientists’ development significantly increases the accumulation of doxorubicin, one of the main antitumor antibiotics, in tumor cells.
The authors explained that the proposed compound enhances tumor cell sensitivity to doxorubicin by blocking P-glycoprotein’s pumping function. This increases the drug’s intracellular concentration, and this can be used to create new combined chemotherapy regimens.
This development is particularly important for treating cervical cancer, which often arises from an infection with human papillomavirus types 16 and 18. This pathology is particularly problematic because it causes drug resistance, which reduces the effectiveness of standard treatment methods, including chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Scientists emphasize that this principle can be applied to other types of cancer where P-glycoprotein resistance is important. In the near future, the researchers plan to conduct preclinical trials on animal models and search for pharmaceutical partners to continue developing the project.
Earlier it was reported that scientists at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU) have developed a new chemical compound with increased anti-cancer activity and virtually zero toxicity to healthy tissues. The university’s press service stated that the substance is 50 times more effective than an analog approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
