Cancer treatment: New nanodevice defeats drug resistance

Massachusetts Institute of Technology has discovered a new nanodevice that blocks the gene that gives drug resistance to tumors. Then tumors will be debilitated and would be easier to cemotherapy to combat cancer. 

The device, which consists of gold nanoparticles embedded in a hydrogel that can be injected or implanted at a tumor site, could also be used in any gene involved in cancer.

Nataly Artzi used the new device and implanted it in mice with a type of human breast tumor. It blocks the gene MRP1, that gives drug resistance, and then apply the chemotherapy drug and the researchers removed tumors by 90 percent in two weeks, proving its effectiveness.

"Drug resistance is a huge hurdle in cancer therapy and the reason why chemotherapy, in many cases, is not very effective," says João Conde. To overcome this, the researchers created gold nanoparticles coated with strands of DNA complementary to the sequence of MRP1 messenger RNA.

When the DNA encounters the correct mRNA sequence inside a cancer cell, it unfolds and binds to the mRNA, preventing the generation of more molecules of the MRP1 protein. So the device silences the gene that synthesise the MRP1 and now the cell is no longer resistant to that drug, proving its efficacy. The device emits fluorescence allowing the researchers to visualize what is happening inside the cells. Because of this, the particles could also be used for diagnosis -- specifically, determining if a certain cancer-related gene is activated in tumor cells.

The DNA-coated gold nanoparticles are embedded in an adhesive gel that stays in place and coats the tumor after being implanted, so this protects them from degradation and also enables sustained drug release, Artzi says.

This approach could be adapted to deliver any kind of drug or gene therapy targeted to a specific gene involved in cancer, the researchers say. 

Jeffrey Karp, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, who was not involved in the research says that "Hopefully this approach will perform in studies beyond 14 days and be translatable to patients, who are desperate for new and more effective treatment regimens."

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It is a very interesting article that informs us of an important scientific research advance. Cancer is a disease very difficult to combat with any drug, so this are good news for patients who have it. Now there is a little more hope for them and luckily in a few month will be used with them.