Isolation, Amplification and Cloning of Arginase Producing Gene from Bacillus megaterium

Abstract

An important cycle that operates partly in the cytosol and partly in the mitochondria of a cell is the urea cycle. The ureohydrolase enzyme arginase (Arg) catalyzes the conversion of arginine to ornithine, releasing urea as a by-product. Increased metabolic activity of cancer cells amounts for increased demand of amino acids for their growth. Cancer types like hepatocellular carcinoma, prostate cancer are auxotrophic for arginine. Cancer cells fail to match the production of amino acids with their depletion. Hence, growth of afore mentioned cancer types cease upon non-availability of arginine, and consequently dependency on surrounding cells increases. Artificial administration of Arg to completely devoid such cells of arginine is a budding therapeutic approach for cancer treatment. Arg from human source is already under clinical trials. But what distinguishes this project is the production of Arg from microbial source. The objective is to discover a novel microbial source for Arg and simultaneously reduce the cost of Arg, thereby impacting overall cancer treatment with respect to availability of drug and cost.