In Brief

Dye me anticancer yellow

Acridine yellow G, a fluorescent dye used to stain microscope slides, can inhibit an aggressive form of brain cancer—glioblastoma with a deletion in the tumor-suppressor gene PTEN, Emory researchers have found. Tumors with this deletion do not respond to currently available therapies.

Pathologist Keqiang Ye and his team found that the dye decreases tumor volume in both subcutaneous and intracranial models and extends the life span of brain tumor-inoculated mice. They also found that the dye has potent antitumor effect against human lung cancers.

Ye says that since the acridine family of compounds can damage DNA, more toxicology studies are needed before a new anticancer drug can be developed.—

Quinn Eastman