Using Bacteria to Curb Smoking
Okay, so the title of this blog post entry is a "little" misleading, but....
Xue et al. from Departments of Chemistry and Immunology and The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, and ‡Worm Institute for Research and Medicine (WIRM), The Scripps Research Institute--I just HAD to include the institute since it is the Worm Institute :) --have isolated an enzyme called NicA2 from the bacteria Pseudomonas putida, a bacteria known to metabolize nicotine, and have used this enzyme to show that in vitro this enzyme can break the nicotine down into N-methylmyosmine.
These researchers have shown that the enzyme is quite stable for longer periods of time, such as 3-weeks in a buffer and three days in serum, and can clear serum nicotine levels within thirty minutes. This is a good initial step in the potential use of this enzyme medicinally or at least as a lead for other potential therapeutic uses.
Students in my Biochemistry classes should recognize the Michaelis-Menten (i.e. Steady-state kinetics) curve from the paper that I have included in the figure below.
Xue et al. from Departments of Chemistry and Immunology and The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, and ‡Worm Institute for Research and Medicine (WIRM), The Scripps Research Institute--I just HAD to include the institute since it is the Worm Institute :) --have isolated an enzyme called NicA2 from the bacteria Pseudomonas putida, a bacteria known to metabolize nicotine, and have used this enzyme to show that in vitro this enzyme can break the nicotine down into N-methylmyosmine.
These researchers have shown that the enzyme is quite stable for longer periods of time, such as 3-weeks in a buffer and three days in serum, and can clear serum nicotine levels within thirty minutes. This is a good initial step in the potential use of this enzyme medicinally or at least as a lead for other potential therapeutic uses.
Students in my Biochemistry classes should recognize the Michaelis-Menten (i.e. Steady-state kinetics) curve from the paper that I have included in the figure below.
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| Taken from http://cdn.phys.org/newman/csz/news/800/2015/nicotineeati.gif |
A brief synopsis article can be found on the first link below. The actual link to the Journal of the American Chemical Society article can be found in the second hyperlinl.
I apologize for the annoying highlighting, but Blogger wouldn't let me remove it.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds promising! I hope this could actually be therapeutic and reduce the amount of smokers since about 3,400 non-smoking adults die because of lung cancer caused by secondhand smoke according to the lung cancer society. Reducing lung cancer because of smoking would be amazing.
ReplyDeleteThe role of bacteria is quite interesting. Considering the fact that it is both beneficial and detrimental to us. It is phenomenal that this bacteria may help those who are addicted to nicotine and truly want to break this habit. However, what about those who already have cancer and continue to smoke? Would this bacteria help them? Studies show that this bacteria causes an infection in immunocomprised patients and even those who use catheters. It is best to continue to research on this particular bacteria and determine its capabilities and inabilities as well.
ReplyDeleteDiabetic Foot Gangrene Patient with Multi- drug resistant Pseudomonas Putida Infection in Karawaci District, Indonesia
This is certainly a very innovative way to approach an age-old problem! The current methods to help people quit smoking have not advanced very much in the last several years despite their low efficacy rate. Using a bacteria to digest the nicotine itself seems like a wonderful way to combat its effects. Rather than simply replacing a person's cigarette addiction with another nicotine supplement, this would take care of the addictive problem at its core. More research should be done to test its safety, though, as many bacterial strains can cause harmful effects in humans. I am curious to know how the bacteria would be given to a person. Is it possible to put a bacterial strain in the form of a pill?
ReplyDeletePerhaps I'm missing something in this article, but I don't get how breaking down nicotine would aid in cessation of the addiction. According to the U.S.'s Health and Human Services Department's 'Be Tobacco Free' movement
ReplyDelete(http://betobaccofree.hhs.gov/health-effects/nicotine-health/index.html), nicotine is the substance responsible for causing the addiction by changing brain function and causing the user to desire more nicotine. According to the above-mentioned website, the lack of nicotine is what causes withdrawal symptoms. If this is so, how does N-methylmyosmine help break the addiction? If one is already addicted, breaking the chemical down would only lead to the very withdrawal effects that may discourage quitting.
I could see how this might be a measure to prevent addiction in 'new' smokers, where they would take N-methylmyosmine supplements or such, which would break down the nicotine and help prevent them from becoming addicted, but that doesn't seem to be the aim of this research (not to mention a silly way to go about one's health, as a large part of the reason why addiction is problematic is due to the inhalation of foreign particles, etc. into the lungs, compromising their function (http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/2010/consumer_booklet/chemicals_smoke/). This would not be fixed by N-methylmyosmine.).
Alternately, I could see great promise for N-methylmyosmine in helping prevent addiction in family members and roommates of smokers. According to the American Cancer Society's website, '[n]on-smokers who breathe in [second-hand smoke] take in nicotine... by the same route smokers do.' In a case like this, N-methylmyosmine might help people who live with smokers, by breaking down the unwanted nicotine and helping them to avoid any addiction, perhaps especially in the cases of children.
This has a lot of potential to be a huge advancement in the medical field. We all know how smoking is one of the biggest contributors to health issue in the world. With most of the methods to stop smoking is by reducing your amount of nicotine with products like the patch's or gum. This would be a different approach to people wanting to quit smoking .
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting abstract/article to look into. It always amazes me how we are now beginning to scratch the surface and understand some of the most recent scientific discoveries.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that the researchers were able to use and isolate the enzyme from a bacteria. For the most part, bacteria has a bad connotation to it because of the harmful ones that have been discovered. I would be interested to see more research on the bacteria itself and its effect in possibly chimpanzees/apes. The article mentions that the experiment was done in mice, but mice are obviously lower in weight compared to humans. What would the results be in an organism with similar weight to humans. I would be curious to see if similar results occurred before proceeding to human trials.
Another thought I have is how the enzyme + bacteria would interact if a patient has other conditions besides smoking/nicotine addiction. Would the interaction and safety of the bacteria still be the same if a patient had problems with cardiovascular disease or cirrhosis or something along that line.
Smoking is a hard habbit to kick for a lot of people. About 5% of smokers who try to quit in a given year actually quit. Medications have been known to double those odds, but there is still a high failure rate. This new study may actually hold some promise though. An enzyme that breaks down the nicotine before you have a chance to get addicted may change that percentage by quite a bit. However, until this new therapy is ready for the public, smokers will just have to rely on the usual tried-and-true methods of quitting.
ReplyDeleteI did find this article interesting, and I am impressed by this innovative method to curb the harmful habit of smoking. As we all know, the habit is a very difficult one to curb due to nicotine’s ability to alter the brain in such a way that it desires more and more of the drug. The idea of introducing the body to the enzyme NicA2 sounds promising in the fact that it will break the nicotine down into N-methylmyosmine. It sounds more promising because as the article stated N-methylmyosmine will stay in the system much longer, which in turn; may be capable to curb one’s desire to consume more nicotine. My concerns, of course, are the side effects of this treatment. It is commonly known that excessive smoking can cause a variety of ailments such as lung disease, cardiovascular disease, and metastatic diseases. But how will it impact those who have already been majorly infected. Also I would like to know more details about how the introduction of this enzyme will be able to reduce the half-life of the drug before it reaches the brain. If this treatment is able to do so then I believe that the success rate will be much higher than the patch and gum treatments that are being so widely advertised now.
ReplyDeleteNicotine patches and the current pharmaceuticals are just not cutting it. It is nice to see research in this area as the relapse rate for smokers is so high. It would also be beneficial to see this enzyme available as a 30 day injectable. Its potential efficacy combined with the convince of a long lasting shot would appeal to many people looking to quit smoking. The effect that this enzyme has on nicotine is certainly something that should require continued research.
ReplyDeleteResearcher Kim Janda says this enzyme is like a little Pac-Man destroying the nicotine before it reaches the brain's reward system. (http://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-found-an-enzyme-that-eats-up-nicotine-and-could-help-smokers-quit) It seems that the struggle people have with smoking is the the addiction and feel-good effect that brings them back to another cigarette. So I think this is a great innovation to help those who are trying to quit! I am currently in Microbiology and am continually fascinated with the microscopic world of bacteria.
ReplyDeleteI think that a new way, even if not proven to be the answer, to help curb the damage that smoking causes in todays day and age. Like many people in the world today I was around smoking a lot and witnessed its harm and how difficult it is to quit. My uncle really had a problem and he finally wanted to try and give it up. He tried nicotine patches and anything else he could think of to curb the desire that his body had for nicotine. Sadly though nothing seemed to work at all for him. Because of this he was not ever to ever truly kick his smoking habit. However, after reading this article, it is very comforting and exciting to see that strides are being made in this area. The long lasting shot is what interests me the most. If this technique is able to be transferred to clinical use and within a reasonable price range then I believe this could be a huge step in the right direction for the future of being able to curb smoking.
ReplyDeleteI am very excited about this discovery because it addresses smoking, which is the leading cause of most preventable diseases in the United States. If a pseudomonas putida containing NicA2 is able to effectively curb smoking, the prevalence of cigarette smoking and smoking-related illness in the United States will reduce. Even though, smoking seems to be the hardest addictions to break, I strongly believe this approach will be a key to anti-smoking therapy.
ReplyDeleteInteresting read, as usual. I have many similar questions to those of my peers, (more specifically, Shavon, Anastasia, April, Rachel, Ciarra) . I agree with April and nipping the problem at the core and more research should be done with regards to many aspects of this innovation but especially with the safety and long term effects. However, I do have some wonders that relate much to Anastasia's and Rachel's. By the way, I enjoyed Jessica's comment, that quote is a great illustration and analogy! There is not much for me to say that is not already asked or pointed out. So I'll keep it simple, I agree more research should be done, and this innovation has huge potential. I do wonder how it would be advertised and distributed...How big would the supply and demand be? What and how would it be regulated and administered?
ReplyDeleteVery interesting... now if only they could figure out how to do this for the harmful side effects of Mnt. Dew. lol... But then again would that make me stop drinking it? Or only give me a reason to drink more? I would fear that this would be the same case with this NicA2 enzyme. If it destroys the harmful effects, why stop. However, if the enzyme cuts out the nicotine before it reaches the pleasure centers of the brain like Jessica pointed out, this is a genius way to help stop the desire to smoke.
ReplyDeleteAlso it got me wondering, could this help save the bees?
As strange as it seems, this article reminded me of the epidemic we are seeing with the lose of honeybees around the globe due to colony collapse. Most of the time it is caused by a mite infestation. Once a colony is infected, it is near to impossible to reverse the effects.
However, some bees have been observed drinking nectar from tobacco plants to help counteract the harmful viruses brought to them by these mites.
Article here:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150217202931.htm
And this is where we run full circle back to the subject at hand.
As the nicotine in these plants help the bees, scientists now see bees becoming "addicted" to plants containing pesticides with neonicotinoids (a nicotine like chemical).
Here is the article about that: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150423234110.htm
Considering this NicA2 is being used to help stop the addictive properties for humans, could this enzyme be used in the sugar water apiculturalists give to their bees to help lessen the addictiveness while still retaining some of its ability to fight of parasites? Just food for thought.
-Eric Eversole
This is an interesting consideration, I personally am intrigued to see it used therapeutically in future especially if it's effective. It's an interesting, the issue of addiction, and how bacteria which was previously believe only to be bad is now used for good; while on the other hand cigarette, which used to be viewed as harmless have been proven to be deadly. The lack of knowledge we once, and still, have is quite amazing to think about. I wonder if in the future the issue of cigarette addiction will ever become a laughing matter, similarly to how we once viewed the earth as flat. Or if E-cigarettes will make cigarette addiction non existent in years to come.
ReplyDeleteThis read is definitely something that should be looked further into. It is quite interesting, and it's crazy to consider. This is very backwards in our current mindset of bacteria, which makes its research something worth looking deeper into. It is great that things like bacteria are causing a mind-shift, because the knowledge we have is still lacking. Therefore, I believe the outcome of this type of research would be something great to see, especially when looking at the effectiveness.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, let me just comment that it feels great to understand what this type of graph means and what it is used for. We don't realize how much we have learned until you come across something you had a hard time understanding before and now you can easily process it.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the article, I think this presents a remarkable advance in medicine to treat patients who are "intoxicated" with nicotine. If a drug was ever to be synthesized to treat such addition or to clear one's system, there should be many regulations that ensure that such breakthrough doesn't motivate others to take nicotine consumption lightly. Even though, e-cigarettes are available, they have been around for a while but do not seem to be the general public's preference. Therefore, this discovery might other door to alternative and more attractive ways to solve the issue.
Coming from a family that use to smoke a lot and have problems quitting, this find is quite intriguing. To be able to possibly have found a break through for something as addicting as nicotine is incredible. This could lead to a cure for a drug that was made without the regard for people's health and wellness and purely for the fact that cigarette companies would make bank due to how addicting the ingredients are. I think this could also be a great replacement for e-cigarettes as well due to the fact that we don't know as much about them however, they are becoming more popular and give users an even higher dose of nicotine than they were getting smoking cigarettes. As we see with cigarettes and nicotine there is a want to stop using, however the brain and mind often over powers this want with need. So being able to synthesize a bacteria to ultimately get rid of that dependency overtime is truly an incredible find.
ReplyDeleteThis is an extremely interesting article. Since taking biochemistry, it has impressed upon me the superiority of biological means to solve biological problems. Antibiotics and other synthetics work well right now, but only because they are often our only option. When a biologic such as the one mentioned in the article are introduce a biologic such as the one mentioned in the article is introduced, it has the potential to drastically reduce the side effects and possibly eliminate them, as is the case being presented.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that they have tried it on mice and found no side effects makes me think that they will begin human trials before too much longer. The next question that arises would be - does this drug eliminate withdrawal symptoms? I suspect the answer is no. But regardless, it's a step in the right direction.
This was a very interesting read. I think that this research on bacteria should be looked into further. Smoking is not going away anytime soon but, there are people who want to quit but do not have the will to do so. Not everyone responds well to the nicotine patches or the gum. I know people that have died from their smoking habit. Hopefully a product is approved so this bacteria can start saving lives! It also makes me happy to see that we are finding out new ways for bacteria to be helpful to the human body instead of it being harmful.
ReplyDeleteThis article is fascinating, considering it address an issue that has plagued society for so many years and is so difficult to break, smoking. While it is at the beginning stages of development, the fact that a bacteria has been discovered that literally destroys nicotine is groundbreaking and has so much potential. It is valid in saying that the title of the article is slightly misleading, given that they haven't discovered a way of implementing the bacteria to help someone quit smoking, the possibility is certainly there. I hope that this discovery is furthered and used in the future, because if it can destroy the nicotine before it gets to the brain, there is no positive response to smoking, making it much easier to quit.
ReplyDeleteThis article caught my attention as soon as I saw the words bacteria and preventative. The article brings about a interesting concept in that this particular bacteria may be used in the future to curb smokers addiction through these bacteria's ability to breakdown nicotine. This seems quite remarkable in the sense that we could potentially use bacteria and its tricks to breakdown unwanted materials in our bodies some time in the future.
ReplyDeleteObviously, the most full-proof plan to stop smoking is to never begin. Unfortunately, many do not have that luxury. Using bacteria as a smoking cure is quite fascinating, and makes me wonder, would other types of bacteria be able to breakdown the other harmful residues left by smoking, such as tar? I suppose such a discovery would lead to advances in throat and lung cancer prevention as well as treatment. Also, it would be interesting to study bacteria and their potential for breaking down other harmful chemicals included in hardcore drugs such as cocaine or heroin, as a treatment for drug addicts.
ReplyDelete-Micah Thornton