Bacterial Protein Kills Tumors: New Weapon In The Fight Against Cancer?”

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My research article comes from www.sciencedaily.com published October 28, 2002. This is an abstract from an article published by the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in the October 29 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This is the result of a preliminary three-year study on the use of live bacteria to treat cancer.
Www.sciencedaily stated that live bacteria have been used to treat cancer has been researched for a hundred years, however, in the past this treatment has caused toxicity and even death. (Science Daily, 2002)
Recently researchers at UIC have been able to isolate a specific protein secreted by bacteria that destroys cancer cells, with no apparent ill side effects. They have tested mice that have been implanted with human Melanomas. They have found that the protein shrank the Melanomas but did not cause any of the ill side effects such as death as in past studies. (Science Daily, 2002)
This protein is called Azurin, which is used every day as cells generate energy. Azurin was produced from the growth of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa. These bacteria have been found to be resistant to antibiotic treatments and it causes severe respiratory infections. The bacterium survives by killing macrophages, which is the immune systems first line of defense against invading substances.
In the UIC study the mice with the Melanomas were given a half a milligram of Azurin daily for twenty-two days. The tumors shrank an average of sixty percent as compared to the control (untreated) mice during the trial. No mice showed any ill side effects such as toxicity or death. (Science Daily, 2002)
According to researchers Azurin works by stabilizing the p53 protein. Which is a product of the p53 gene. The p53 gene is a cancer suppressor gene. The p53 gene suppresses cancer growth by stopping the cellular division or by causing the cell to die. Azurin binds to the p53 protein inside the cell nucleus,...