Cancer cells consume a large amount of energy and metabolites compared to normal cells because they proliferate and metastasize actively.Since this metabolic reaction is supported by the mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I (ETCC1), it has been thought that inhibition of ETCC1 can effectively suppress the growth and metastasis of cancer.However, most of the existing ETCC1 inhibitors were weakly active or highly toxic and could not be applied to the treatment of cancer.

　On the other hand, in this study, as a result of creating and investigating a unique plant extract library, petasin, which is abundant in the Japanese plant Fukinoto, has an ETCC1700 inhibitory activity that is 1 times higher than that of conventional inhibitors and 3800 times higher. It was discovered to have anticancer activity.In addition, despite showing such a remarkable anticancer effect, petasin inhibits energy metabolism characteristic of cancer cells, so that it has almost no effect on normal tissues and proliferates selectively in cancer. It is said that it can inhibit metastasis.Furthermore, it has been confirmed that it shows a very strong growth inhibitory effect on a wide variety of cancer cells such as breast cancer, stomach cancer, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, bladder cancer, prostate cancer, malignant melanoma, sarcoma, and leukemia. Was done.

　Petasin can be said to be a unique compound that has a strong anticancer effect and safety while having a chemical structure completely different from that of the inhibitors known so far (metformin and phenformin).Since it can be artificially synthesized in large quantities, it is considered to be promising as an innovative anticancer / metastasis inhibitor.

Paper information:[The Journal of Clinical Investigation] Petasin potently inhibits mitochondrial complex I-based metabolism that supports tumor growth and metastasis