Researchers from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology have developed a technology that inhibits the development of skin cancer using a one-millionth dosage of the active ingredient.
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The innovative approach is based on the body's immune system's own ability to destroy cancer cells, which is a more accurate and specific system than synthetic anti-cancer drugs. It helps the immune system target the malignant tumor, which is otherwise heterogeneous and evasive.
The study – published in the Advanced Functional Materials peer-reviewed scientific journal – was led by Dean of the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering Professor Marcelle Machluf and doctorate student Lior Levy.
At the core of this new development is a protein called TRAIL, which is found in the body's immune system. It knows how to induce the death of cancer cells, and does so selectively, meaning it only affects cancer cells, a highly desirable feature in anti-cancer treatment.
The application of TRAIL in immunotherapy has so far encountered various technical challenges, like the absorption of the protein in the body, its distribution, and the fact that it does not survive for very long.
Technicon's study offers a solution to these problems.
The Nano-Ghost platform is produced by emptying specific biological cells in a way that leaves only the cell membrane and reducing their size to a nanometer scale. Any drug can be inserted into the membrane and injected directly into the bloodstream. Because the body's immune system treats nano-ghosts as natural cells, it delivers them to the affected site. They do not release the drug on the way, and therefore do not harm healthy tissue. They target the malignant tissue alone, delivering the drug to the tumor cells.
By integrating the three aforementioned factors – the immunotherapy concept, the TRAIL protein, and the Nano-Ghost technology – researchers created a drug delivery system that allows reduction of the drug dosage by a factor of a million while maintaining the same treatment effect.
"This integration turns the Nano-Ghost platform from a 'taxi' that delivers the drug to the target into a 'tank' that participates in the war," Machluf said. "The integrated platform delivers the drug to the tumor and enables a significant reduction in drug dosage yet still does the job. We also showed that our method does not harm healthy cells."
The technology was demonstrated on cells in the lab and on human cancer cells in mice. The researchers estimate that this new strategy, which was demonstrated in their study on a melanoma model, will also be effective on other types of cancer.
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