Drug Discovery Could Protect Against Radioactive Bomb

By Anastacia Mott Austin

New York researcher Andrei Gudkov, from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, had long marveled at cancer cells’ ability to resist radioactive damage.

Regular cells, especially those in the GI tract and bone marrow, respond to moderately high levels of radiation by essentially committing cell-suicide (also call apoptosis). The thought is that cell death is a protective measure to ensure that the affected cell will not cause damage to the body as a whole.

But cancer cells resist apoptosis by mutating. Gudkov and his associates set out to develop a way for regular cells to resist cell death also. This week, they announced, they have found it.

"These [GI and bone marrow] tissues fail because these cells choose to commit suicide," said Gudkov to reporters. "Our idea was to block these suicidal intentions."

Code named CBLB502 and created from a salmonella "tail" protein called flagellin, they developed a drug that allows regular cells to become resistant to radiation damage when tested in mice and monkeys. The research team hopes to expand their research on CBLB502 to humans.

The results are promising because it offers hope to those undergoing radiation treatments for cancer. The new drug could prevent or lessen side effects of the radioactive treatments.

Possibly even more interesting, the drug could potentially prevent radioactive damage to cells in people who have been exposed to wide-scale radiation, such as in a nuclear reactor leak or a radioactive bomb.

"We are basically developing this thing for two applications," said Gudkov. "One is for general protection from emergency situations - dirty bombs or Chernobyl-type disasters," and the other would be for radiation in cancer treatments.

When the drug was administered to mice and monkeys a short time before a high dose of radiation was given, it appeared to negate the damaging effects and protected the cells.

When the drug was given one hour after the animals were exposed to high levels of radiation, the effects were not quite as dramatic, but also offered protection to cells and improved overall survival rates.

Gudkov has created his own marketing lab, Cleveland Biolabs, with the intention to eventually market the drug for humans.

The Department of Defense has taken an interest in the project and has agreed to help fund further research.