Silent genes in soil bacteria just pointed drug hunters at a cancer-linked protein

Some of the most promising chemistry in nature is written in genes that stay silent — never switched on, never making anything anyone can test. Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Germany went looking for what those quiet genes hide, and found a family of compounds called myxoglucamides, made by soil-dwelling myxobacteria. Using a method that systematically maps which human proteins a molecule binds, they showed the compounds latch mainly onto AKR1C3 — an enzyme involved in hormone and inflammation signalling that is overproduced in several cancers, where it can help tumour cells grow. The team is careful: the compounds did not strongly slow cancer cells in their tests. But as department head Mark Brönstrup puts it, that is exactly where the potential lies — natural products with no obvious effect can still engage highly relevant targets, handing drug developers a new starting point. Both studies appear in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

SDG 9 · Industry, innovation and infrastructure — Mechanism: tech innovation