Bacillus cucumis: A New Source of L-Methioninase Enzyme with Potential for Cancer Therapy Warrier Akhila, Gopal K. Hara, Anand Kadambari Jha, Legha E., Soumitri N.S., Ashrini B.S., Nadumane Varalakshmi Kilingar* Department of Biotechnology, School of Sciences, Jain (Deemed to be University), JC Road, Bengaluru - 560 027, Karnataka (India) *e-mail: kn.varalakshmi@jainuniversity.ac.in
Online Published on 10 November, 2023. Abstract The existing cancer therapies usually target a single pathway, and the associated side effects and higher costs involved in such mono-target therapies have necessitated to find alternative treatment strategies. Methionine dependency is commonly seen in cancer cells whereas normal cells in absence of methionine can grow on homocysteine, as they possess intact methionine synthase. So reducing the level of cancer cell/plasma methionine with the help of L-methioninase enzyme looks a very promising therapy to manage the cancer. The present research was based on rapid screening of soil samples for L-methioninase producing microbes using selective media. The selected microbes were tested for their L-methioninase activity and total protein content. The results indicated a new strain of Bacillus, identified as Bacillus cucumis LAKHS12, exhibiting the highest L-methioninase activity. The cytotoxic activity on in-vitro cancer cell lines by MTT assay revealed that L-methioninase from B. cucumis exhibited highest cytotoxicity. The percentage viability of cervical cancer Hela cells was 35.7%, indicating a significant cytotoxicity of 64.3% for 48 h of treatment with L-methioninase at a low concentration. This finding was further supported by the microscopic observations of treated cancer cells. It can be concluded that the isolate has potential for further enzyme purification, characterization, and anticancer applications. Top Keywords Bacillus cucumis, Cancer, L-methioninase, Methionine dependency, MTT assay. Top |