Tobacco Investigated for Medicinal Uses

A number of medical researchers are currently investigating tobacco for applications that range from therapeutics to drug-producing plant "factories.” Several are showing promise.

Nicotine aids angiogenesis
Researchers at Stanford University (Stanford, CA, USA; www.stanford.edu) have discovered that nicotine receptor agonists (NRA) provide a novel way to enhance new blood vessel growth, or angiogenesis. They have also found that NRA could provide the basis for the recruitment and mobilization of stem cells to aid the repair of a damaged or diseased organ, such as the heart. An exclusive worldwide patent license for the use of nicotine in stem cell and progenitor cell recruitment focused on cardiology and neurology has been granted by Stanford to Endovasc Ltd. Inc. (Montgomery, TX; www.endovasc.com). Based on its preclinical work on NRA angiogenesis, the company anticipates advancing NRA into phase III trials to evaluate its safety and efficacy in the treatment of chronic myocardial ischemia. Endovasc also has a stem cell option agreement, allowing the company to evaluate NRA use in the recruitment and mobilization of stem cells.

"We are very excited about the data obtained from our NRA angiogenesis preclinical work,” said Dr. David P. Summers, chairman and CEO of Endovasc. "Although it is too early to predict the potential for this Stanford discovery, we believe that the implications are enormous.”

Drug-producing plants
Meanwhile, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, USA; www.mgh.harvard.edu) are working to make tobacco plants produce drugs, a faster and less-expensive method than using a herd of cows or goats as some companies are doing. This project, called biopharming, involves a crop of Asian tobacco scarred so it is able to absorb a cloned, altered human gene. By correctly following the instructions of that gene, the plant secretes a naturally occurring protein in the human body that is called Mullerian inhibiting substance (MIS). The researchers, headed by David T. MacLaughlin, believe MIS may inhibit the growth of ovarian, breast, prostate, and other reproductive cancers, but until now, the protein has been difficult to reproduce by conventional methods.

To date, scientists have been able to successfully grow only a few antibodies in plants that would be potentially useful to humans, says Dr. Henry Daniell, a professor in the department of molecular biology and microbiology at the University of Central Florida (Orlando, USA; www.ucf.edu). One of these is an antibody against Streptococcus mutans, which causes tooth decay. Called CaroRX, it is perhaps the most clinically advanced product produced by genetically modified tobacco. The antibody is now in phase II trials.



Related Links:
Stanford Univ.
Mass. Gen'l Hospital
Univ. of Central Florida