SBIR Phase I: Gene signature screening for Pancreatic Cancer Therapeutics from Sonoran Desert extracts

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目旨在从独特的天然产品库中发现化合物，这些化合物可以阻止胰腺癌中出现的基因表达模式的改变。待筛选的提取物和馏分文库来自亚利桑那大学的古纳提拉卡博士，来自索诺兰沙漠植物及其相关微生物。这些生物有很高的能力产生各种次生代谢物，通常是大量的，这些次生代谢物对它们的生存至关重要，因为它们经常暴露在恶劣、炎热和干燥的环境中。因此，这些提取物可能含有丰富的药理上重要的小分子。第一个目标将是确定阻止胰腺癌特异性基因表达的提取物，然后测试它们是否也有能力抑制胰腺癌细胞的生长/增殖。这项研究的长期目标是开发一种针对胰腺癌的靶向治疗方法。这项研究的更广泛的商业影响是新型无毒药物，可以治疗尚无有效治疗方法的胰腺癌。胰腺癌在美国癌症死亡的主要原因中排名第四，估计2009年的死亡人数为35240人，大致相当于同年的新增患者人数。有效的治疗将减少治疗的直接医疗成本，在美国估计每年为8.81亿美元，包括住院成本、门诊成本以及家庭和长期护理。此外，它还将为患者恢复富有成效的生活带来希望。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is designed to discover compounds from a unique Natural Products Library that block the altered patterns of gene expression seen in pancreatic cancer. The extract and fraction library to be screened is from Dr. Gunatilaka at the University of Arizona and are derived from Sonoran desert plants and their associated microorganisms. These organisms have a high capacity to produce a variety of secondary metabolites, often in large quantities, which are essential for their survival as they are constantly exposed to a harsh, hot and dry environment. Thus, these extracts may contain a wealth of pharmacologically important small molecules. The first goal will be to identify extracts that block pancreatic-cancer-specific gene expression and then test whether they are also capable of inhibiting growth/proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells. The long term goal is to develop a targeted therapeutic for pancreatic cancer.The broader/commercial impacts of this research are novel non-toxic drugs that can treat pancreatic cancer for which no effective therapy exists. Pancreatic cancer ranks fourth among the leading causes of cancer deaths in the United States with an estimated death toll of 35,240 for 2009, roughly equal to the number of new patients for the same year. An effective therapeutic would reduce direct medical costs for treatment, estimated to be $881 million annually in the US, including hospitalization costs, outpatient costs, and home and long-term care. In addition it would hold the hope of returning patients to a productive life.