Development of novel anti-cancer and immunosuppressive drugs derived from pineapple stems

在实验室研究中，我们从菠萝茎中发现了两种具有抗肿瘤活性的分子。一种叫做ananain的分子可以阻断一种叫做Ras的致癌蛋白质，这种蛋白质在大约30%的癌症中是有缺陷的。另一种叫做canizain的分子刺激人体自身的免疫系统瞄准并杀死癌细胞。拟议的研究旨在提供使用ananain和canizain作为药物开发靶点的概念证明。一旦这个早期的原理验证阶段完成，我们相信ananain和canizain将成为一家大型制药公司进一步投资的极具吸引力的目标。

We have discovered two molecules from pineapple stems that show anti-tumour activity in laboratory studies. One molecule, called ananain, blocks a cancer causing protein called Ras, which is defective in approximately 30% of all cancers. The other molecule, called canizain, stimulates the bodies own immune system to target and kill cancer cells. The proposed research seeks to provide proof of concept of the use of ananain and canizain as drug development targets. Once this early proof of principle phase has been completed, we believe that ananain and canizain would be extremely attractive targets for further investment by a major pharmaceutical company.