BATAVIA, Ohio — A UC Clermont professor has received a $100,000 grant for her work on antibiotics that can take on cancer stem cells.
Jill Shirokawa, assistant professor of chemistry, is spearheading research that combines two different projects previously started by UC Clermont professors looking for anti-cancer drugs.
In 2019, Professor Emeritus Cliff Larrabee and his co-inventor, former student Mary Warmin, submitted a patent for a new nanocarrier that could help drugs dissolve in the blood and protect
them from the body's mechanisms. Larrabee said he believes the technology could potentially deliver antibiotics directly to cancer tumors.
“You can kill cancer stem cells with antibiotics,” Larrabee said. “And if you can kill them before they differentiate, maybe you can prevent or slow metastasis.”
UC Clermont professor Krista Clark leads her students through isolating bacteria from soil samples taken in their local environments. The bacteria strains are then screened for their ability to produce antibiotics that are effective against the most common antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
After Clark’s students grow the bacteria in the lab and extract a crude antibiotic from it, Shirokawa’s team places the antibiotic into the nanoparticle designed by Larrabee to protect the drug from getting destroyed when injected into the body. Shirokawa said the researchers have identified 19 bacteria to date that produce antibiotic-isolating compounds and show initial signs that they can kill cancer cells.
“Our goal is to identify from those extracts the compound that actually kills the cancer stem cells,” Shirokawa said. “We would love to eventually get this treatment into the clinical setting, where it could actually be delivered to cancer patients.”
Shirokawa, who took the reins of the project in 2020, plans to use the PhRMA Foundation Faculty Starter Grant in Drug Discovery to purchase supplies and small equipment for the college’s budding anti-cancer drug discovery lab. She said she hopes to apply for additional funds to increase the number of students involved in the research.
At this time, two full-time lab assistants work alongside one or two UC Clermont students each semester. Shirokawa is asking potential science faculty about their research interests during the hiring process, too.
The research is supported in part by donors through the Sophia Fund for Innovation, UC Clermont Dean Jeff Bauer said.
“We are delighted to support the research by Drs. Clark, Larrabee and Shirokawa that is focused on improving the efficacy of cancer drug delivery,” said Bauer. “UC Clermont is uniquely positioned to provide undergraduate students with the opportunity to participate in this ground-breaking work that will improve lives in our community — and beyond.”
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