Drug Discovery in Acid Mine Waste: Searching for Unique Secondary Metabolites from the Berkeley Pit Microbe Bp 2-0-A Cu500G3

Michalee Moen

Abstract

In recent years cancer has earned the rather grim reputation as the leading cause of death in the Western world, and even the most effective chemotherapeutic agents rarely offer true cures.  New drugs can only hold hope for more effectively fighting the complex disease we call cancer if new paradigms are followed to discover new drugs.  Most cancer drugs currently used today are cytotoxic agents that kill cancer cells only a few orders of magnitude more effectively than other cells.

Fungi and bacteria are not always the cause of infectious diseases: their metabolic products can be a source of drugs to cure specific cancers.  These little microbes survive in a world where their ecological niches are established and defined by their ability to kill or control fellow microorganisms.  Their chemical arsenals have provided many of the important chemotherapeutics used to date.

Although many microbes have been studied and exploited for their ability to produce bioactive metabolites with good drug potential, countless others remain untouched.  Every unique ecological niche produces unique microbes and unique chemistry.  By studying unusual environments, such as the Berkeley Pit in Butte, Montana, we hope to increase our chances of discovering new drugs from microbes.

BP 2-0-A Cu500G3 is part of a collection of microorganisms that have been collected by the Stierles from various depth samples of Berkeley Pit water down to 885 ft. The bacterium I am studying was isolated from the biofilm of a yeast challenged with high levels of copper salts. In preliminary studies, the bacterium inhibited MMP-3, which has been shown to be a good indicator of anticancer activity.

Biography

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