Sea cucumbers are the ocean's janitors, cleaning the seabed and recycling nutrients back into the water.
Sea cucumbers are the ocean's janitors, cleaning the seabed and recycling nutrients back into the water. But this humble marine invertebrate could also hold the key to stopping the spread of cancer.
A sugar compound found in sea cucumbers can effectively block Sulf-2, an enzyme that plays a major role in cancer growth, according to a University of Mississippi-led study published in Glycobiology.
"Marine life produces compounds with unique structures that are often rare or not found in terrestrial vertebrates," said Marwa Farrag, a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the UM Department of BioMolecular Sciences.
"And so, the sugar compounds in sea cucumbers are unique. They aren't commonly seen in other organisms. That's why they're worth studying."
Read More: University of Mississippi
A sugar compound found in sea cucumbers could hold the key to stopping the spread of cancer, according to a recent UM-led study published in Glycobiology. (Photo Credit: Stefanie Goodwiller/University Marketing and Communications)
