Anti-smoking drug from nicotine-eating bacteria

Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute have identified a bacterial enzyme that could help people quit smoking by seeking out and consuming nicotine before it gets to the brain.

This new research offers possible alternatives to the various smoking cessations aids now available which are known to fail in nearly 80-90% of smokers. According to Janda, the enzyme would attack and eat any and all nicotine contained in tobacco products before it reaches the brain, thus, depriving the smoker of the chemical rewards the brain perceives that its receiving from the nicotine.

Janda and his team have been working 30 years in labs to create the enzyme.

One of the researchers compared the enzyme to Pac-Man – in the way it eats nicotine containing the carbon and nitrogen it needs to survive.

Dr. Janda said that by tweaking the enzyme they can reduce nicotine’s half-life even more.

Therapy to replace nicotine such as gum, patches and pills can make quitting smoking a bit less strenuous, but these are not always real effective and a large amount of self-discipline goes into beating the habit.

>> Subscribe to Times of San Diego’s free daily email newsletter! It was conducted by researchers from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in La Jolla, California.

But for those wary of having a bacterium introduced into their organism, rest assured: researchers are only considering the use of the specific nicotine eating enzyme in the drug, which the researchers have jokingly named “Pac-Man”. “It was a long shot”, said Janda.

The bacteria reduced the nicotine’s life from 2 to 3 hours to a mere 9 to 15 minutes.

The microbes use the enzyme NicA2 to consume nicotine. “If it didn’t have the right metrics, it would be a bust”. With this new research on the bacterial enzyme, the scientists think a more favorable outcome will be seen within anti-smoking programs.

The next step is to alter the enzyme’s bacterial makeup, says Janda, which will help mitigate potential immune liabilities and increase its therapeutic potential.

A lot more has to be done and according to the lead author Song Xue, the serums stability had to be improved so that one injection could last for a month at least. TSRI is internationally recognized for its contributions to science and health, including its role in laying the foundation for new treatments for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, and other diseases. The institute’s graduate program, which awards PhD degrees in biology and chemistry, ranks among the top ten of its kind in the nation.