Identification of bacterial products with antitumor activity in a bacterial library obtained from compost material from the São Paulo Zoo

• Grant number: 22/14015-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2022
• End date: November 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Rodrigo Esaki Tamura
• Grantee: Isabela de Queiroz
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Ambientais, Químicas e Farmacêuticas (ICAQF). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Diadema. Diadema , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 19/15619-2 - Development of high capacity adenoviral system expressing antitumoral genes, AP.JP

Abstract

For over 100 years, microbial agents have been used to fight cancer. Inactivated bacteria are capable of inducing death or activating the immune system against tumor cells. As well as the expression or direct inoculation of bacterial proteins or peptides have also been used in the fight against cancer. There is still a great diversity of bacteria not yet identified and/or poorly studied and, therefore, there are new bacterial toxins not yet tested with medical potential. Thus, our objective in this project will be to identify new bacterial antigens with antitumor capacity in a collection of about 750 bacteria isolated in a thematic research project (FAPESP Thematic Project: 2011/50870-6), from the organic waste composting unit of the Sao Paulo Zoo. In this thematic project, the compost material was collected and, at the same time, the isolation of bacteria and DNA was carried out for metagenomic analysis from the same samples collected. The isolates obtained were screened for the secretion of enzymes of biotechnological interest (amylase, protease, cellulase and lipase), and part of them was submitted to taxonomic analysis by 16S ribosomal sequencing and by mass spectrometry analysis (MALDI/TOF). With the end of the thematic and in the interest of continuing to investigate the microbiological richness of this collection, these bacteria will be tested against prostate cancer tumor cells to analyze possible compromises in cell viability due to antitumor activity.