Berry Good

Compounds from plants have already inspired many medicines, yet researchers are still discovering new applications for them. The small protein FR900359, or FR, is produced by coralberry (Ardisia crenata, pictured) as a defence against insect herbivores, but it could also help treat the most common type of eye cancer. Uveal melanoma is linked to mutations in genes encoding sections of G proteins, which cycle between inactive and active states in response to other signals, and control many metabolic pathways. The mutations essentially keep the G proteins constantly active, causing cells to multiply uncontrollably. FR can bind to these G protein sections to keep them inactive, even in their mutated forms, and tests on cultured cells and tumours in mice suggest this can stop the growth of melanomas. While a promising result, G proteins have many important roles, so precisely targeting cancerous cells would be critical for any treatments involving FR.

Written by Emmanuelle Briolat

Emmanuelle Briolat

Writer

A researcher specialising in visual signals in Lepidoptera, camouflage and the effects of light pollution, Emmanuelle’s writing covers a range of topics, from biomedical research to children’s books about moth defences.

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• Image by Dick Culbert on Wikimedia Commons
• Research from the Molecular, Cellular and Pharmacobiology Section, Institute for Pharmaceutical Biology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons BY-NC 2.0 attribution
• Research published in Science Signaling, March 2019