A fungus long blamed for the deaths of archaeologists who opened King Tutankhamun’s tomb may now help save lives. Researchers have harnessed the toxic fungus Aspergillus flavus – once linked to the so-called ‘pharaoh’s curse’ – to develop a powerful new compound that kills cancer cells.
The study, published in Nature Chemical Biology, revealed that the fungus produces previously unknown molecules, which the team modified and tested against human leukaemia cells.
Two of the compounds, dubbed asperigimycins, showed strong anti-cancer activity. When modified, one of the variants performed as well as two FDA-approved drugs at killing off the cancerous cells.
“We know there’s lots of potential for fungi to produce bioactive molecules,” senior author Prof Sherry Gao told BBC Science Focus. “However, only a small percentage of these potential molecules have been discovered.”
A. flavus has a sinister history. After archaeologists opened King Tut’s tomb in the 1920s, a string of untimely deaths fuelled rumours of a pharaoh’s curse. Later investigations suggested that spores of A. flavus, sealed in the tomb for millennia, could have triggered fatal lung infections.
A similar pattern emerged in the 1970s when 10 out of 12 scientists who entered the tomb of a Polish king died shortly after exposure to the fungus.
Now, the same deadly fungus could be part of a medical breakthrough. The research team discovered that A. flavus produces a type of molecule known as a RiPP – short for ribosomally synthesised and post-translationally modified peptide.
RiPPs are known for their complex structures and potent biological effects, but very few have been identified in fungi.
The team isolated four RiPPs with a distinctive ring-shaped structure. When tested on cancer cells, two were highly effective against leukaemia. A third, artificially modified with a fatty molecule known as a ‘lipid chain’, worked as well as cytarabine and daunorubicin – standard chemotherapy agents.
“After modification, we made the compound much better at entering the cell,” Gao said. “Once it's entered the cell, we believe there’s some mechanism by which it prevents cell division.”
Gao said more work is needed to establish how the RiPPs target the cancer cells, and why they were effective against leukaemia cells but not other types of cancer cells tested.
The team is also planning to create a platform allowing them to find more potentially useful products from fungi, 95 per cent of which may remain unknown to science, according to Gao.
“Nature has given us this incredible pharmacy,” Gao said. “It’s up to us to uncover its secrets.”
Read more:
- Tutankhamun’s tomb: How scientists solved the mystery of its hidden rooms
- Tutankhamun may have died in drink-driving crash, bold new theory claims
- Scientists capture Egyptian mummy’s ‘scent of eternity' - and are pumping it through a museum
About our expert
Xue (Sherry) Gao is the Presidential Penn Compact Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Her lab is dedicated to advancing the development of highly specific and potent genome-editing tools with broad applications in disease treatment, diagnostics and the exploration of novel small-molecule drugs.