In a joint research effort between the Pascale Foundation in Naples and the Sbarro Institute in Philadelphia, scientists have identified and described the role of castalin, a natural molecule found in chestnut by-products. Castalin acts as a powerful inducer of oxygen radicals, leading to DNA damage.

Their findings are published in the journal Antioxidants, titled “Castalin Induces ROS Production, Leading to DNA Damage and Increasing the Activity of CHK1 Inhibitor in Cancer Cell Lines.”

The team demonstrated that castalin can boost the effectiveness of CHK1 inhibitors, a class of drugs currently in phase 1 clinical trials. When tested in cellular models of triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease, castalin was shown to enhance the action of these inhibitors.