Viagra and Cialis work, in part, by targeting what are known as “chaperone proteins” that play an important role in cellular and bacterial processes tied to cancer, as well as Alzheimer's disease, and viral infections, according to Virginia Commonwealth University researchers.

 

The scientists detailed how those ED drugs reduce the activity of a specific chaperone protein — known as HSPA5/Dna K — to combat diseases, based on a series of new studies, in the journal DNA and Cell Biology.
 

Lead researchers Laurence Booth, Jane Roberts, and Paul Dent, noted an experimental compound called OSU-03012, derived from the drug celecoxib (Celebrex), interacts with Viagra and Cialis to combat tumors and interfere with virus replication, promote bacterial cell death, and even make drug-resistant "superbugs" susceptible to existing antibiotics.
 

"Drugs like Celebrex and Viagra are readily available and generally recognized as safe. This study by Booth and colleagues may lead to new applications of these relatively new medicines," said Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Editor-in-Chief, of DNA and Cell Biology and professor of biology at New York University.
 

"The potential impact, if the experiments described are translatable to human disease, could be paradigm-shifting. The potential applications are serious antibiotic resistant infections, chemotherapy-resistant cancers, and neurodegenerative disease ranging from Parkinson's disease to Huntington's or Alzheimer's disease."