





RENOWNED Jamaican scientist Dr Henry Lowe and his cancer research team received a big boost over the last several weeks as one of their peer-reviewed research papers on the anti-cancer properties of the Jamaican Ball Moss has generated great interest in the international scientific community.







The research paper — published in Cancer Cell International, regarded as one of the world's leading cancer peer review journals — has so far received 1,800 downloads which, Lowe said, is "a seminal achievement within the international scientific research community" and has placed Jamaica "at the forefront of prostate cancer research".







Lowe, the Jamaica Observer Business Leader for 2006, explained that the research paper details the activity of a compound isolated from the Ball Moss and which was very effective in killing 100 per cent of the prostate cancer cells in-vivo.







The compound, Cycloartane-3,24,25-triol, has also proven effective in animals used in anti-cancer research.







It is one of 22 chemically related compounds called cycloartanes considered to be responsible for some of the major anti-cancer activity of the Ball Moss.







However, the research team of local and international scientists went further to evaluate the mode of action of this compound and other related cycloartanes by conducting "several mechanistic studies" which, in essence, look at how it works.



Lowe said that one of the studies conducted on the cycloartanes from the Jamaican Ball Moss looked at the activity of Kinases, a group of enzymes that are used extensively to transmit signals and control complex processes in cells.







"Kinase Inhibition studies now represent the gold standard by which pharmaceutical companies identify serious drug candidates," Dr Lowe said.







"The specific Kinase enzyme, MRCKa Kinase, has been implicated in the irregular cellular growth which leads to cancer formation in the cell. The activities of the isolated compound on the inhibition of MRCKa Kinase are, therefore, considered as a potential solution to restoring the normal cellular growth and multiplication and prevent or destroy prostate cancer, thus signalling a major potential for the cure of prostate cancer through this mechanism of action," Dr Lowe said.







His research team include doctors Joseph Bryant and Ngeh Toyang from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, as well as recently recruited young scientists Dr Charah Watson, director of research and development at Biotech R&D Institute, and Dr Simone Badal from the University of the West Indies. According to Dr Lowe, who is also an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine and distinguished adjunct professor of ethno-medicinal chemistry at the University of Technology, Jamaica, "the high access statistics [of the research paper] demonstrate the global scientific and medical impact of the research and its novelty and relevance to anti-cancer research worldwide. Jamaica can, therefore, be considered as a serious contender for international recognition of its anti-cancer research".





























