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Orange Opportunity
14 December 2015

Orange Opportunity

Good ideas and solutions to tough problems can often be found in surprising places. Parietin is an important pigment of orange Caloplaca lichens, like the one pictured, and is also found in rhubarb. It’s an unlikely candidate for human medicine, yet researchers have found that treatment with parietin can kill leukaemia cells, without affecting healthy blood cells. It works because the metabolism of cancer cells is slightly different from that of other cells – a phenomenon known as the Warburg effect. Parietin interferes with an enzyme named 6PGD, which mediates a key step in the metabolic cycle malignant cells rely on for producing energy, the pentose phosphate pathway. While it doesn’t mean that having extra helpings of rhubarb crumble or chewing on lichen will keep you healthy, research on the effects of parietin could yield new anticancer treatments, targeting 6PGD and the pentose phosphate pathway.

Written by Emmanuelle Briolat

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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