Ellen Phiddian
Cosmos science journalist
Scientists have developed a way to transport a drug to a specific part of the body, then be excreted out.
The method, which has been demonstrated in mice, could one day be a safer way to treat cancer and other diseases.
The study, done by a team of Japanese researchers, is published in Nature Communications.
The research focusses on a blood protein called albumin. Because albumin travels all around the body, it’s a good candidate for transporting medicines.
The researchers examined glycan molecules that sit on the surface of albumin proteins in specific patterns, influencing where the protein binds.
One of these patterns could make the protein stick to human colon cancer cells, while another caused the protein to be picked up by the liver and sent through the intestines for excretion.
The researchers figured out a way to make albumin change between these two forms.
They developed a “switching carrier”, which could bind to albumin and switch it from tumour-targeting form into its excretion form.
The team showed that these proteins could switch by attaching them to fluorescent markers and testing them in mice, as well as in lab-based experiments.
“Our strategy could be used as a drug delivery system to promote excretion of a drug or medical radionuclide from a tumour after treatment, thereby preventing prolonged exposure that could lead to adverse effects,” says lead researcher Katsunori Tanaka, a researcher at the RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research.
“Alternatively, a single ‘patrolling’ molecule could be used for simultaneous treatment of multiple diseases — as in the technology depicted in the movie Fantastic Voyage.”
