Bromopyruvic acid
Encyclopedia
Bromopyruvic acid, or bromopyruvate, is a synthetic brominated
Bromine
Bromine ") is a chemical element with the symbol Br, an atomic number of 35, and an atomic mass of 79.904. It is in the halogen element group. The element was isolated independently by two chemists, Carl Jacob Löwig and Antoine Jerome Balard, in 1825–1826...

 derivative of pyruvic acid
Pyruvic acid
Pyruvic acid is an organic acid, a ketone, as well as the simplest of the alpha-keto acids. The carboxylate ion of pyruvic acid, CH3COCOO−, is known as pyruvate, and is a key intersection in several metabolic pathways....

. It is being studied as a potential treatment for certain types of cancer. Initial studies in laboratory animals researchers at Johns Hopkins showed that bromopyruvic acid is effective at eliminating aggressive liver tumors.

According to the Warburg hypothesis
Warburg hypothesis
The Warburg effect is the observation that cancer cells exhibit glycolysis with lactate secretion and mitochondrial respiration even in the presence of oxygen....

, unlike normal tissues that derive most of their energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate
Adenosine triphosphate
Adenosine-5'-triphosphate is a multifunctional nucleoside triphosphate used in cells as a coenzyme. It is often called the "molecular unit of currency" of intracellular energy transfer. ATP transports chemical energy within cells for metabolism...

 (ATP) by metabolizing either glucose
Glucose
Glucose is a simple sugar and an important carbohydrate in biology. Cells use it as the primary source of energy and a metabolic intermediate...

 or fatty acids for energy production in the mitochondria, aggressive cancers obtain much of their ATP by metabolizing glucose directly to lactic acid
Lactic acid
Lactic acid, also known as milk acid, is a chemical compound that plays a role in various biochemical processes and was first isolated in 1780 by the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele. Lactic acid is a carboxylic acid with the chemical formula C3H6O3...

. The mechanism of action
Mechanism of action
In pharmacology, the term mechanism of action refers to the specific biochemical interaction through which a drug substance produces its pharmacological effect...

 of bromopyruvic acid involves interruption of this latter process by the inhibition
Enzyme inhibitor
An enzyme inhibitor is a molecule that binds to enzymes and decreases their activity. Since blocking an enzyme's activity can kill a pathogen or correct a metabolic imbalance, many drugs are enzyme inhibitors. They are also used as herbicides and pesticides...

 of the enzyme hexokinase II
Hexokinase
A hexokinase is an enzyme that phosphorylates a six-carbon sugar, a hexose, to a hexose phosphate. In most tissues and organisms, glucose is the most important substrate of hexokinases, and glucose-6-phosphate the most important product....

because the bromopyruvic acid is similar in chemical structure to lactic acid.

A study reported that intraarterial delivery of bromopyruvic acid directly to the site of a tumor represents a new strategy for stopping the growth of liver cancer while minimizing toxic side-effects.

While pre-clinical studies have been promising, human clinical trials to study the effectiveness of bromopyruvic acid have not yet begun. Application for patent has already been submitted.

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