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The bacterial protein azurin shows an unexpected therapeutic effect against various types of cancer. This property seems to result from its unique structural and surface features. A 28-residue peptide (named p28) derived from the middle part of azurin has been subjected to various studies and reached two clinical trials phase I in US. In a recent paper published in Biomedicines, a iBB team (Ana Rita Garizo, Lígia Coelho, Sandra Pinto, Tiago Dias, Fábio Fernandes, Nuno Bernardes and Arsénio M Fialho) were able to identified another anticancer bioactive peptide (CT-p19LC) derived from the C-terminal of azurin. CT-p19LC proved to interact preferentially with cancer cells, causing a significative inhibition of cell proliferation in a dose dependent manner. Moreover, it is proposed that the mode of action of CT-p19LC involves perturbation or disruption of cancer cell membranes. Overall this study highlights the relevance of azurin as a source of bioactive peptides with potential application in cancer therapies.
