| Researchers from Tel Aviv University proved that a drug delivery system based on lipid nanoparticles can utilize RNA to overcome resistance to both chemotherapy and immunotherapy in cancer treatments. The study opens a new path to a personalized and precisely targeted battle against cancer. | |
| The results were published in the scientific journal Advanced Materials (“Dual-Targeted Lipid Nanotherapeutic Boost for Chemo-Immunotherapy of Cancer”). |
| The study was led by TAU Vice President for R&D Prof. Dan Peer, Head of the Laboratory of Precision Nanomedicine at the Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research, Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, and a member of the Roman Abramovich Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, together with post-doctoral researcher Dr. Seok-Beom Yong of South Korea. The study was funded via an ERC grant from the European Union and a research scholarship from the Korean government. | |
| Chemo-immunotherapy, which combines chemotherapy with immunotherapy, is considered the most advanced standard of care for various types of cancer. While chemotherapy destroys cancer cells, immunotherapy encourages the cells of the immune system to identify and attack the remaining cancer cells. | |
| However, many patients fail to respond to chemo-immunotherapy, which means that the treatment is not sufficiently targeted. Prof. Peer and his team are the first in the world to prove the feasibility of a drug delivery system based on lipid nanoparticles that release their load only at the specifically targeted cells – cancer cells for chemotherapy and immune cells for immunotherapy. | |
| “In our system a single nanoparticle is capable of operating in two different arenas,” explains Prof. Peer. “It increases the sensitivity of cancer cells resistant to chemotherapy, while also reinvigorating immune cells and increasing their sensitivity to cancer cells. Thus, with one precisely targeted nanoparticle we provide two different treatments, at very different sites. We tested this system in two types of lab models – one for metastasized melanoma, and the other for a local solid tumor. In both populations we observed positive effects of our delivery system.” |
| The new development by Prof. Peer’s team builds from another recent discovery: an enzyme called HO1 is used by cancer cells for both resisting chemotherapy and concealing themselves from the immune system. Silencing HO1 in the tumor is thus considered an optimal strategy in clinical research, but so far, all attempts to silence the enzyme led to severe side effects. | |
| “Chemo-resistant tumors pose a significant challenge in our endless battle against cancer,” says Prof. Peer. “We aim to silence the enzyme HO1 which enables tumors to develop resistance to chemotherapy, and to conceal themselves from the immune system. But existing methods for silencing HO1 resemble using an F-16 fighter jet to blast a tiny ant. Our new nanodrug knows how to precisely target the cancer cells, silence the enzyme, and expose the tumor to chemotherapy, without causing any damage to surrounding healthy cells. Afterwards, the same nanoparticle goes on to the T-cells of the immune system and reprograms them to identify cancer cells. Active, highly aggressive tumors are able to conceal themselves from the immune system, and we restore the immune cells’ ability to recognize the cancer as a foreign body and attack it.” | |
| “This is the first instance of a single drug based on an RNA-loaded nanoparticle doing two very different, even opposite jobs,” adds Prof. Peer. “This is only an initial study, but it has enormous potential in the ongoing fight against cancer.” |
News
Can our mitochondria help to beat long Covid?
At Cambridge University’s MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit, Michal Minczuk is one of a growing number of scientists around the world aiming to find new ways of improving mitochondrial health. This line of research could help [...]
Lipid nanoparticles carry gene-editing cancer drugs past tumor defenses
As they grow, solid tumors surround themselves with a thick, hard-to-penetrate wall of molecular defenses. Getting drugs past that barricade is notoriously difficult. Now, scientists at UT Southwestern have developed nanoparticles that can break [...]
Graphene Nanosensor Detects Biomarkers Through Tears
In an article recently published in the journal Talanta, researchers demonstrated a new approach to enable the specific detection of biomarkers in human tear by employing an aptamer-based graphene affinity nanosensor. The ability to detect [...]
How Nanotechnology Can Make a Splash in Aquaculture
Selenium (Se) is an essential element found in aquatic feeds that promotes the proper development, wellbeing, and fitness of marine animals. Selenium can be transformed into nanomaterials that are more easily accessible, absorbed, and consumed by [...]
Super-Resolution Imaging Method For Multiple Fluorescence Microscopy Applications
In an article recently published in the journal Nanotechnology, researchers employed a single particle imaging method for fluorescence excitation with moderate intensity to achieve spatial resolution. Here, the semiconductor nanocrystals were accessed, whose emission lifetimes [...]
Trials to begin on new SA COVID-19 vaccine
A new COVID-19 vaccine developed in South Australia and administered with a needle-free device is to begin human trials. Designed by University of Adelaide researchers the DNA vaccine also targets the Omicron variant of [...]
Towards Carbon Clean Manufacturing with Eco-Friendly Nano-Lubricants
Grinding is an essential manufacturing process, yet the heat due to friction associated with the process causes damage to the part being processed. Lubrication is used to reduce friction; however, traditional petroleum-based lubricants can [...]
Researchers develop hybrid sensor that could help diagnose cancer
A team of researchers from HSE University, Skoltech, MPGU, and MISIS have developed a nanophotonic-microfluidic sensor whose potential applications include cancer detection, monitoring and treatment response assessment. Today, the device can identify gases and [...]
Scientists Develop ‘Nanomachines’ That Can Penetrate And Kill Cancer Cells
Researchers have made a scientific breakthrough with the development of ‘nanomachines’ that can kill cancerous cells. The research team headed by Dr Youngdo Jeong from the Center for Advanced Biomolecular Recognition at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) has engineered [...]
Green Method to Make Nanoparticles and Ultrafine Powder
A novel freeze-dissolving approach has been devised that offers greater efficiency and sustainability compared to the classic freeze-drying process to make superfine powder or nanoparticles. In the research published in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, sphere-shaped [...]
Participants wanted for study on the regulation of what future AI-driven nanomedicines should look like
Would you like to help in some research on the regulation of what future AI-driven nanomedicines should look like? If so, researchers at the University of Bristol are looking for volunteers to discuss ethical [...]
Could gold nanoparticles help treat cancer?
Gold nanoparticles are minuscule particles made of gold. From drug and gene delivery to photothermal and photodynamic therapies to screening and diagnostic tests to radiation therapy, X-ray imaging and CT scans, these small particles [...]
Carbon Dots Target Nucleolus and Monitor in Real-Time
In an article recently published in the journal Applied Surface Science, the researchers synthesized green fluorescent carbon dots (G-CDs) from 3,5-diaminobenzoic acid and citric acid. The as-prepared G-CDs were used to target the nucleolus and [...]
Green Nanoformulation for Anti-Cancer and Antibacterial Functions
Doxorubicin (DOX) is a powerful anti-cancer medication, and efforts have been made to design nanostructures for delivering it to cancerous cells. The nanostructures increase the cytotoxic effects of DOX on cancerous cells, while reducing the negative effects [...]
New drug delivery system releases therapeutic cargo only when bacteria are present
A team of Brown University researchers has developed a new responsive material that is able to release encapsulated cargo only when pathogenic bacteria are present. The material could be used to make wound dressings [...]
Hairy Cell Leukemia Complicated by Severe COVID-19: A Case Study
Novel three-drug regimen used to manage life-threatening developments. In April 2021, a 42-year-old man reached out to Brian Hill, MD, PhD, for a second opinion after being diagnosed with hairy cell leukemia following a bone [...]
