Natural Cocaine Production in Plants - Essay Example

Natural Cocaine Production in Plants Researchers and scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology based in Jena, Germany have discovered how cocaine is synthesized by the coca plant. They were able to isolate the enzyme known as aldo-keto reductase, or AKR, or otherwise known as methylecgonone reductase, or MecgoR (How Plants Make Cocaine, 2012). Aside from merely trying to find out the mechanism behind the natural synthesis of cocaine by the coca plant itself, another purpose of the research is that if the details of the natural synthesis of cocaine are known, then it is possible that only the beneficial properties of cocaine can be retained while the harmful ones are eliminated. The coca plant has similar biochemical properties as those that produce alkaloids. The coca plant belongs to a group of plants with natural alkaloids, or nitrogen-containing compounds that produce diverse effects on the physiology of humans. The alkaloid compounds in these plants are proven to have strong pharmacological effects on people and are known to contain nicotine, caffeine, quinine, morphine, atropine, strychnine, and the illegal stimulant compound cocaine. The plants that contain alkaloids include the Solanaceae or potato family, the Brassicaceae or mustard family, and the Erythroxylaceae or coca family, to which the coca plant belongs. The close relatedness of these plants is not only justified by the fact that they all contain alkaloid compounds but also by the fact that they had a common ancestor around 120 million years ago and that the alkaloid compounds that they contain obey similar biochemical pathways. The significance of this fact is that if one were to uncover the details of the natural synthesis of cocaine, then it is possible to study it from the point of view of the other plants to which the coca plant is related (How Plants Make Cocaine, 2012). In the experiment conducted by researchers of the Max Planck Institute, in order to understand better how protein is naturally made by the coca plant, the synthesis of alkaloids in a particular species of the Solanaceae family was compared with the biochemical synthesis of cocaine in the coca plant (Secrets of Natural Cocaine Production Revealed, 2012). The plant known as belladonna, which belongs to the Solanaceae family, produces the tropane alkaloid known as atropine, and the synthesis of this alkaloid was compared with that of cocaine in the coca plant. Although the biochemical pathway and mechanism involved in the synthesis of alkaloids is basically the same for all alkaloid-producing plants, and for both both belladonna and coca plants as well, the Max Planck Institute researchers hypothesize that the enzymes involved in the syntheses of different compounds must also be different from each other. The results of the experiment proved the hypothesis true when it was found out that the enzyme that produced the atropine in belladonna proved to be “completely different” from the one that eventually produced cocaine in the coca plant. This enzyme, which is known as AKR or MecgoR, is involved in the biochemical pathway of the synthesis of cocaine by converting the keto group into an alcohol residue, which is actually the same role assumed by the SDR, or short-chain dehydrogenase reductase enzyme in belladonna (How Plants Make Cocaine, 2012). Thus, although there was a basically similar pathway for the production of atropine and cocaine in both species of plants, the very small difference in the nature and identity of the enzyme that catalyzes the keto group towards the end of the pathway is the main factor behind the fact that the coca plant is able to naturally synthesize cocaine, and not another alkaloid compound. Moreover, it is very interesting for the Max Plank Institute researchers to find out that the synthesis of atropine in belladonna takes place in the roots of the plant before the atropine is transported to the leaves, while the synthesis of cocaine takes place in the leaves, as proven by the significant amounts of MecgoR in the leaves of coca plants but not in the roots. Due to this difference in location, the researchers have concluded that both biochemical pathways – that of atropine and that of cocaine – have “evolved completely independently” (How Plants Make Cocaine, 2012). There is, however, a great possibility that they were once linked but that they only evolved separately at some point. The aldo-keto reductase family of enzymes actually has more uses than just effecting the natural synthesis of cocaine. AKR enzymes are also found in bacteria, protozoa, yeast, amphibians and mammals, with approximately over 114 types of proteins in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes that belong to more than 14 families (Hyndman et al., 2003). This class of enzymes usually plays a significant role in the synthesis of steroid hormones (How Plants Make Cocaine, 2012). Most AKR enzymes are also involved in the catalysis of the conversion of alcohol to an aldehyde, which is the basis of glucose metabolism, electron transport as well as aldehyde metabolism in mammals. AKR enzymes may also play a particular role in maintaining the health of the liver, cortex, kidney, heart, bone marrow, pancreas, prostate, skeletal muscle and lungs (Hyndman et al., 2003). The purpose of the study was to determine the specific natural biochemical pathway in the coca plant that leads to the natural synthesis of cocaine, hopefully to eliminate the harmful properties of this compound in the future while retaining its more useful properties. The most dangerous property of cocaine is that it is a dopamine agonist, or that it blocks dopamine transporter sites in the brain. Since dopamine is involved in movement, learning and attention, then the blockage of it by cocaine will naturally result in numerous negative physiological effects in humans. Dysphoria, anxiety, paranoia, depression and addiction to the drug are also a few of the side effects of cocaine (Goodman, 2012). The current research on the natural synthesis of cocaine in the coca plant seeks to eliminate these negative and harmful effects. Cocaine also has positive and beneficial properties like an increase in energy and alertness, an extremely elevated mood, an excited and exuberant speech, and other benefits as a stimulant (Cocaine Use and Its Effects, 2012). No matter how temporary these benefits of cocaine are, they are still positive and beneficial. After all, cocaine acquired its bad reputation only from its harmful properties. Otherwise, cocaine would not have been once promoted by famous people like Queen Victoria, Thomas Edison or Pope Leo XIII (Clutterbuck, 2011). The goal of the experiment in the Max Planck Institute is to retain these properties of cocaine by hopefully studying closely the natural synthesis of the compound through MecgoR enzymes. Cocaine has both harmful and beneficial effects on the human body, but the problem is that its harmful effects somehow not only overwhelm its good effects but also ascribes to it a bad reputation. The goal of discovering the details of the biochemical mechanism behind the natural synthesis of cocaine is to somehow eliminate the negative effects and to retain its beneficial effects someday. The Max Planck Institute researchers through a comparative study uncovered the fact that it is an aldo-keto reductase or AKR enzyme, which is also known as MecgoR, that is responsible for the synthesis of cocaine in the coca plants. Knowledge of this as well as futher research will hopefully shed more light on the nature of cocaine and on how its harmful effects can be minimized or eliminated and how its beneficial effects can be retained. References Clutterbuck, J. (2011). Cocaine was once a ‘wonder’ drug. Retrieved from Protect Health Benefits: http://www.protecthealthbenefits.org/health-news/cocaine-was-once-a-wonder-drug Cocaine Use and Its Effects. (2012). Retrieved from WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/cocaine-use-and-its-effects Goodman, B. Cocaine in Your Brain. Retrieved from Macalester College: http://www.macalester.edu/psychology/whathap/UBNRP/Dopamine/cocaine.html How Plants Make Cocaine. (2012). Retrieved from Science Daily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120606102605.htm Hyndman, D., Bauman, D. R., Heredia, V. V. & Penning T. M. (2003). “The aldo-keto reductase superfamily homepage.” Chemico-Biological Interactions, 143-144, 621-631. Secrets of Natural Cocaine Production Revealed. (2012). Retrieved from the National Geographic: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/06/120612-how-plants-make-cocaine-coca-drugs-chemicals-health-science/ Read More