Bacteriocin azurin, a protein for the treatment of cancer

The published sources for this narrative review paper were obtained by searching the Google Scholar, PubMed, and SID databases. Cancer remains one of the top causes of mortality, despite decades of fundamental clinical research and promising studies. To remove the tumor from a cancer patient, techniques such as surgery along with radiotherapy and chemotherapy are utilized, which entail several side effects. Bacterial toxins have been employed as tumor killing carriers. Bacterial toxins with the potential to attach to tumor surface antigens have been employed in cancer therapy. Azurin is an anti-cancer bacteriocin derived from the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa that enters human cancer cells selectively and causes apoptosis, or cell death. In addition to preferential entrance intocancer cells, no adverse effects were detected in in vivo experiments. This bacteriocin possesses cytostatic capabilities and can specificallypenetrate human cancer cells and induce apoptosis in them, while having no discernible effect in normal cells. Azurin also has a directand stable reaction with the tumor inhibitor p۵۳. Azurin also possesses a structural resemblance to the variable domains ofimmunoglobulins and the ability to bind and react precisely with certain proteins associated with some malignancies, including breastcancer.

Keywords:

Azurin , Cancer , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Toxin