PrintRequest Information
Antibiotic Inhibited Growth of Malignant Mesothelioma Cell Lines
Doxycycline:
August 24, 2001 — Doxycycline, a common antibiotic, may have potential as an aid in the treatment of malignant mesothelioma, according to researchers at the Department of Medicine at the University of Minnesota (J. Lab Clin Med 2001 Aug; 138(2): 101–6). They experimented with eight malignant mesothelioma cell lines and normal lung fibroblasts (connective tissue cells which excrete collagen and other macromolecules).
Doxycycline had cytostatic or tumor–inhibiting effects on the malignant mesothelioma cell lines, but did not affect the normal lung fibroblasts. Specifically, adding doxycycline to all eight malignant mesothelioma cell lines inhibited gelatinase A activity and the production of cytochrome c oxidase. Cytochrome c oxidase is an enzyme in the mitochondria that is important for electron transport and cell respiration. Gelatinase A is an enzyme that catalyzes the breakdown of gelatin (heat–denatured collagen).
Print