Dan Peer, PhD, a researcher in Tel Aviv University’s department of cell research and immunology and Center for Nano Science and Nano Technology, and Rimona Margalit, PhD, professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular biology, have developed a nano-sized vehicle that can deliver chemotherapeutics directly into cancer cells while avoiding interaction with healthy cells. The innovation increases the efficiency of chemotherapy while reducing side effects such as nausea and liver toxicity.

Tiny particles of chemotherapy drugs are loaded inside the nano-vehicle. When the delivery vehicle comes into contact with cancer cells, it releases the chemotherapeutic payload directly into the cell. According to Peer, the device can be used to treat many different types of cancer, including lung, blood, colon, breast, ovarian, pancreatic, and even several types of brain cancers. The technology was reported in Biomaterials.

The key to the drug delivery platform is the molecule used to create the outer coating — a sugar recognized by receptors on many types of cancer cells. “When the nano-vehicle interacts with the receptor on the cancerous cell, the receptor undergoes a structural change and the chemotherapy payload is released directly into the cancer cell,” Peer explains. Because the nano-vehicle reacts only to cancer cells, the healthy cells that surround them remain untouched. The nano-vehicle itself is fabricated from organic materials that fully decompose in the body once the payload is delivered. California-based ORUUS Pharma has licensed the technology and hopes to proceed to clinical trials in two years or less, according to Peer.

Source: EurekAlert!

Posted September 1st, 2010 under Tech Transfer

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