With Salmonellae Against Cancer
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- Within 24 hours, salmonellaespecifically enter into the tumour tissue. Photo: HZI
Salmonellae are bacterial pathogenic agents that rapidly proliferate in insufficiently cooked egg dishes in warm weather causing commonly known and infamous consequences. Less known, but no less interesting, is the fact that in addition to ice-cream and egg dishes salmonellae also interact with tumour tissue.
Dr. Siegfried Weiß and his team from the research group Molecular Immunology at the HZI have determined how these bacteria enter into tumour cells. An immune system transmitter enables their access by permeabilizing the blood vessels in cancerous tissue allowing the salmonellae to feed on dead tissue. “They actually consume the cancer from within”, says Weiß. “In mouse tumours this already works rather well, but we want to achieve even more. Genetically changed salmonellae could deliver an active substance from within the tumour cell, which then kills the cancer cells in a targeted manner without impairing the surrounding tissue.”
However, quite a few obstacles need to be overcome before salmonellae can be used in tumour treatment. “We must not forget that we are dealing with pathogenic agents here. These have to be weakened in order not to inflict damage on the patient. Yet at the same time, the bacteria have to remain sufficiently active to be able to destroy the tumour. Finding this balance – that’s the difficulty”, says Weiß. The HZI researchers have taken up this challenge with considerable determination as they believe the research approach using salmonellae as a weapon against cancer is more than promising.
