Exploiting Natural Products-Based Therapeutics for Aflatoxin Mitigation

Aflatoxins are a paradigm among fungal produced mycotoxins that are present in food supplies and are strongly associated with increased risk forthe development of hepatocellular carcinoma. Currently, there are no known countermeasures that can selectively mitigate aflatoxin toxicity andthe available options are only symptomatic treatments. To meet this challenge, we propose to harness the microbiome of scavenging mammalianspecies for bioactive natural products that can potentially be developed as aflatoxin countermeasures. We will couple the identified bioactivenatural products from the microbiome with omics-based approaches to further identify the known and unknown aflatoxin drug targets andpathways. Ultimately, this information will be used to screen databases of approved drugs and clinical trial candidates to discover their repurposedrole as aflatoxin countermeasures. The final outcome of this project will provide 1) novel, potent and safe natural product-based lead structures,and 2) a platform to repurpose known drugs for providing rapid transition from bench to bedside for aflatoxin countermeasures. This projectrepresents a compelling opportunity to prevent the threat associated with aflatoxin induced toxicity that will benefit both public and military health.