{"id":103688,"date":"2026-01-08T13:11:35","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T09:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/?p=103688"},"modified":"2026-01-08T13:11:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T09:11:36","slug":"advanced-chemistry-unlocks-verticillin-a-for-cancer-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/advanced-chemistry-unlocks-verticillin-a-for-cancer-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Advanced Chemistry Unlocks Verticillin A for Cancer Research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Researchers at the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology\">Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)<\/a> have announced the first successful synthesis of a complex fungal compound called Verticillin A, more than 50 years after it was discovered. The compound has long been viewed as a potential anti-cancer agent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Verticillin A has an intricate structure, which has made it difficult to synthesize. Researchers explained that subtle changes in its <a href=\"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/?s=molecular+structure+\">molecular structure<\/a> significantly increased the challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe now have the technology to access Verticillin A for the first time and create many designed variants,\u201d said Mohammad Movassaghi, a Professor of Chemistry at MIT. \u201cThis will enable further detailed studies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In laboratory tests on human cancer cells, a derivative of Verticillin A showed promise against diffuse midline glioma, a type of pediatric brain cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jun Qi, Associate Professor of Medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute\/Boston Children\u2019s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and Harvard Medical School, revealed that the research is part of ongoing efforts to explore natural compounds for drug development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The synthesis required precisely fusing two identical halves into a dimer with the correct three-dimensional arrangement. Researchers used a 16-step process that included reordering bond-forming events and protecting fragile molecular bonds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Movassaghi reported that timing was critical in the process. \u201cWe had to significantly change the order of the bond-forming events to succeed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Scientists now plan to study how Verticillin A interacts with cancer cells and explore its therapeutic potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Key points:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>MIT researchers successfully synthesized Verticillin A for the first time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The compound shows potential against pediatric diffuse midline glioma.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The process involved a precise 16-step chemical synthesis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have announced [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":103690,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,9624],"tags":[73],"contributor":[9732],"class_list":["post-103688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-tech","category-smart-sectors","tag-uae","contributor-news-desk"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Verticillin-A.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Lubna","author_link":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/author\/lubna\/"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103688"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103689,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103688\/revisions\/103689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103688"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=103688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}