K-STATE RESEARCHERS USING STEM CELLS FROM THE UMBILICAL CORD TO
TRANSPORT CAPSULES OF ANTI-CANCER DRUGS DIRECTLY TO TUMORSThursday,
July 10, 2008
MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University researchers are working on a
method of delivering cancer drugs that promises to be more efficient
and reduce the side effects patients have to deal with.
"Although chemotherapy has saved many lives, it often has undesirable
side effects," said Deryl Troyer, professor of anatomy and physiology
at K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine. "The people most excited
about this research are people who have gone through chemo, because
our approach may circumvent many of those side effects."
Troyer and two K-State faculty -- Duy Hua, university distinguished
professor of chemistry, and Masaaki Tamura, associate professor of
anatomy and physiology -- received a $380,000 grant from the National
Institutes of Health. They are studying how stem cells can be used to
deliver anti-cancer drugs directly to breast cancer cells via
nanoparticles. The researchers have studied the method in vitro but
soon hope to study the method in preclinical models. The research is
a part of the program of the Midwest Institute for Comparative Stem
Cell Biology at K-State and has received support from K-State's Terry
C. Johnson Center for Basic Cancer Research.
The researchers are using stem cells isolated from Wharton's jelly,
the substance that cushions blood vessels in the umbilical cord.
These types of stem cells can be harvested noninvasively and
therefore are not controversial.
"Billions and billions of these cells are disposed of every day,"
Troyer said. "We think these cells have a lot of advantages,
including their ability to be harvested in large numbers very
rapidly."
Troyer said the stem cells display a sort of homing ability in that
they tend to travel to tumors and other pathological lesions. The
researchers are using these stem cells as delivery systems by loading
the cells with nanoparticles that contain anti-cancer drugs.
"We are using the cells as stealth vehicles," Troyer said.
Hua is fabricating the nanoparticles and some of the small-molecule
drugs for the research. The tiny capsules carrying the drugs are
nanogels made up of two polymers. The nanogel has a dye molecule that
allows the researchers to follow it through the body using a
fluorescent microscope.
The nanogel capsules are loaded into a stem cell, which responds to
proteins sent out by the cancer cells by homing to them, Hua said. As
the stem cells reach the cancer tissues, another chemical that
induces cell death of the stem cells will be administered -- only
stem cells are engineered to respond to this additional drug. This
means that the nanogel-encapsulate
stem cells directly at the cancer tissue.
"The nanogel can be viewed as a very tiny piece of paper that wraps
around the anti-cancer drug like a candy wrapper," Hua said. "Over
time or under certain conditions, the paper unwraps and releases the
candy. Most anti-cancer drugs, including ours, are insoluble in
water. However, the nanogel is water soluble."
Because the drugs are going directly to cancer cells, Troyer said
this method potentially can cause fewer side effects than less direct
methods like intravenous chemotherapy. Troyer said that this research
will make existing but underused cancer drugs more useful to the
doctors who treat people with cancer.
"Many potent small-molecule drugs are sitting on a shelf collecting
dust," Troyer said. "Often they are insoluble or have many toxic
effects. We hope to deliver some of these compounds in a more
targeted manner via the combination of stem cells and nanoparticles.
Although nanotechnology has made enormous strides toward more focused
drug delivery, there is always room for improvement.
Sources: Duy Hua, 785-532-6699, duy@k-state.
Masaaki Tamura, 785-532-4825, masaakit@vet.
Deryl Troyer, 785-532-4509, troyer@vet.k-
http://www.k-
http://www.k-
http://www.k-
Pronouncer: Duy Hua is Dewey Whah
Photos available. Contact media@k-state.
News release prepared by: Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, 785-532-6415,
ebarcomb@k-state.
http://www.k-
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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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