A synthetic 32-amino acid peptide that selectively induces necrosis in cancer cells by binding to HDM-2 on their membranes and forming transmembrane pores.
A lab study showed that the peptide PNC-27 can kill fresh ovarian cancer cells taken directly from patients, and it works better at higher doses. It didn’t affect normal cells in the test, and a similar peptide (PNC-29) had no effect. The results are early‑stage and done in petri dishes, not in people.
Pincus. Matthew R MR; Silberstein. Miriam M; Zohar. Nitzan N; Sarafraz-Yazdi. Ehsan E; Bowne. Wilbur...
Scientists have created a short protein fragment called PNC-27 that sticks to a cancer‑specific marker (HDM‑2) on the outside of tumor cells. When it binds, it builds tiny holes in the cell membrane, causing the cancer cell to burst while leaving normal cells unharmed. In mouse studies it shrank aggressive pancreatic tumors and leukemia without obvious side effects.
Miller. Anna I AI; Diaz. David D; Lin. Bo B; Krzesaj. Patryk K PK; Ustoyev. Sarah S; Shim. Alfred A;...
Lab studies show that ketone bodies—molecules your body makes on a keto diet—can slow the growth of several cancer cell types and make some anti‑cancer drugs, including the peptide PNC‑27, work better in the dish.
Krzesaj. Patryk P; Adler. Victor V; Feinman. Richard D RD; Miller. Anna A; Silberstein. Miriam M; Ya...
The peptide PNC-27 can stick to a protein called HDM‑2 on the surface of cancer cells, make holes in the cell membrane, and also get inside the cell to damage the mitochondria, which leads to the cancer cells dying. This was shown in lab experiments with pancreatic cancer cells, but it hasn’t been tested in people yet.
The study found that a lab‑made peptide called PNC‑27 can kill ovarian cancer cells that survive the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel, and when used together they work better than either alone, at least in mouse experiments.
Rosal. Ramon R; Pincus. Matthew R MR; Brandt-Rauf. Paul W PW; Fine. Robert L RL; Michl. Josef J; Wan...
Scientists studied a 32‑amino‑acid peptide called PNC‑27 that can quickly kill cancer cells by breaking their membranes. Using NMR, they saw that the peptide folds differently in water versus a membrane‑like environment, forming shapes that expose a hydrophobic side and a polar side, which may let it target cancer cell membranes specifically.
Pincus. Matthew R MR; Fenelus. Maly M; Sarafraz-Yazdi. Ehsan E; Adler. Victor V; Bowne. Wilbur W; Mi...
Scientists used computer models to create short protein pieces (peptides) that can kill cancer cells but leave normal cells unharmed. Two types were made: one based on the ras protein and another on the p53 protein. In lab tests and mouse studies, these peptides caused cancer cells to die or revert to a normal state without obvious side effects.
Davitt. Katlin K; Babcock. Blake D BD; Fenelus. Maly M; Poon. Chi Kong CK; Sarkar. Abhishek A; Trivi...
Scientists made a short protein called PNC-27 that sticks to a cancer‑related protein (HDM‑2) on the surface of leukemia cells and makes tiny holes in the cell membrane, killing the cancer cells without hurting normal white blood cells. This works even when the usual tumor‑suppressor p53 is missing.
Sarafraz-Yazdi. Ehsan E; Mumin. Stephen S; Cheung. Diana D; Fridman. Daniel D; Lin. Brian B; Wong. L...
PNC-27 is a short, engineered protein that can stick to a cancer‑related molecule (HDM‑2) on the surface of tumor cells, forming tiny holes that burst the cells. It does not affect normal cells in lab tests, but the study only shows how it works in a dish, not how to use it in people.
Bowne. Wilbur B WB; Sookraj. Kelley A KA; Vishnevetsky. Michael M; Adler. Victor V; Sarafraz-Yazdi....
A lab study found that adding a cell‑penetrating tag called penetratin to a short p53‑derived peptide (PNC‑28) makes it kill pancreatic cancer cells by bursting their membranes (necrosis) instead of the usual programmed cell death (apoptosis). Without the penetratin tag, the same peptide only triggers apoptosis. The effect was seen in cancer cells but not in normal pancreatic cells.
Sookraj. Kelley A KA; Bowne. Wilbur B WB; Adler. Victor V; Sarafraz-Yazdi. Ehsan E; Michl. Josef J;...
The study shows that the full PNC-27 peptide, not broken‑down pieces, can poke holes in the membranes of breast cancer cells and kill them, while normal breast cells break the peptide down and stay alive.
Barrientos-Salcedo. Carolina C; Arenas-Aranda. Diego D; Salamanca-Gómez. Fabio F; Ortiz-Muñ...
Scientists used computer models to map the electric charges and reactive spots on the cancer‑killing peptide PNC‑27. They found several amino acids that are likely to interact with cell membranes, which could explain how the peptide punches holes in tumor cells.
Sarafraz-Yazdi. Ehsan E; Bowne. Wilbur B WB; Adler. Victor V; Sookraj. Kelley A KA; Wu. Vernon V; Sh...
Scientists discovered that a short protein called PNC-27 can kill cancer cells but leaves normal cells unharmed. It works by latching onto a protein called HDM-2 that sits on the surface of many cancer cells, then punching holes in the cell membrane. Normal cells don’t have HDM-2 on their surface, so they’re safe.
Krzesaj. Patryck K PK; Seydafkan. Shabnam S; Miller. Anna I AI; Chen. Hui Ting HT; Premsrirut. Prem...
The peptide PNC-27 can kill cervical cancer cells while leaving normal cervical cells unharmed. It does this by attaching to a protein called HDM-2 that sits on the surface of cancer cells but not on healthy cells. The study shows the peptide works at low micromolar concentrations in lab dishes, but it’s still far from being a usable treatment for people.
Rodríguez. Vida V; Asenjo. Juan A JA; Andrews. Barbara A BA
Scientists built a cheap, high‑throughput way to make cell‑penetrating peptides in bacteria. They fused the target peptide to a helper protein, purified it, and then cut it off with an enzyme. It worked well for one peptide (p53pAnt) and gave over 30 mg of pure peptide per gram of dried bacteria, but the cut‑off step failed for the PNC‑27 peptide.
Scientists used computer models to see how tiny protein pieces (peptides) called PNC‑27, PNC‑27B, PNC‑28A and PNC‑28B might block a cancer‑related interaction between the proteins p53 and MDM2. The calculations suggest that certain amino‑acid tweaks (especially adding E, T and S) make the peptides stick better to MDM2 and stay stable, which could help keep the natural tumor‑suppressor p53 active.
Thadi. Anusha A; Gleeson. Elizabeth M EM; Khalili. Marian M; Shaikh. Mohammad F MF; Goldstein. Eve E...
The study shows that a lab-made peptide called PNC-27 can kill ovarian cancer cells in a dish by attaching to a protein (HDM-2) that sits on the cell surface, but it does not affect normal cells that lack this protein. This effect was only seen in cell cultures, not in animals or people.
Researchers found that a peptide called penetratin (Antp) can carry a toxic payload into cells, and it does this more efficiently in cancer cells because those cells have extra chondroitin sulfate (CS) on their surface. When CS is removed, the peptide is less effective, showing that CS acts like a doorway for the peptide to enter and kill the cell.
Rahmani. Reihaneh R; Darroudi. Majid M; Gharanfoli. Mohsen M; Chamani. Jamshidkhan J; Gholamin. Mehr...
Scientists made tiny iron‑oxide particles coated with a peptide (PNC‑27) that sticks to a protein (HDM‑2) found on many cancer cells. In lab tests, these particles were taken up much more by cancer cells than by normal cells, showing promise for early cancer imaging, but the work is still at the cell‑culture stage and not a usable health hack.
Thadi. Anusha A; Lewis. Lauren L; Goldstein. Eve E; Aggarwal. Anshu A; Khalili. Marian M; Steele. Li...
Scientists found that a short protein called PNC-27 can stick to a molecule (HDM-2) on the surface of certain leukemia cells and punch holes in them, killing the cancer cells while sparing normal blood cells. This was only shown in lab dishes, not in people.