Breakthrough in Cancer Treatment Induces the Cells To Commit Suicide With Self-Produced Toxin

Cancer remains to be one of the leading causes of death worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer accounted for almost 10 million deaths in 2020. This disease arises when the normal cells transform into abnormal cells which grow beyond their usual boundaries.

One of the conventional treatments against cancer is chemotherapy which involves the delivery of small molecules through the bloodstream to kill the cancer cells effectively. However, this technique has some downsides since it is not selective and can also kill healthy cells.

New Approach to Curing Cancer

A team of researchers from Tel Aviv University headed by Ph.D. student Yasmin Granot-Matok and Prof. Dan Peer tried to find a solution to this challenge. They relied on the fact that most bacteria release toxins such as the botulinum toxin, which is injected during Botox treatments.

The research team considered delivering safe messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules encoded for a bacterial toxin to be released directly to the cancer cells. Such a technique can induce the cells to produce a toxic protein that will later kill them.

To make this possible, the team encoded the genetic information of the toxic protein into the mRNA molecules. These proteins are produced by bacteria from the pseudomonas family.

The procedure resembles encoding the genetic information of COVID-19's spike protein into mRNA molecules to create the vaccine. The mRNA molecules are packaged in lipid nanoparticles developed in the laboratory of Prof. Peer. Then they are coated with antibodies to ensure that the instruction for toxin production will reach their target cancer cells.

During the clinical trials involving animals, the particles were injected into the tumors of models with melanoma skin cancer. After carrying out a single injection, it was found that 44% to 60% of cancer cells disappeared.

Prof. Peer clarified that they used pseudomonas bacteria and melanoma cancer for convenience. Most anaerobic bacteria, like those who live in the ground, secrete toxins that can be used with their discovered method. With a simple injection into the tumor bed, cancer cells commit suicide without damaging the healthy cells in the body. Aside from it, the cancer cells cannot develop resistance against their technology which usually happens with traditional chemotherapy treatments.

Nano Delivery Systems of mRNA

In molecular biology, mRNA plays a significant role in transferring genetic information from DNA to proteins. Recent medical breakthroughs have allowed mRNA-based therapy to be an effective platform for infectious diseases, genetic disorders, and cancer.

The mRNA technology has proven its unique benefits compared to traditional biopharmaceutical techniques. Unlike proteins and viruses, producing mRNA is simpler and less costly, making it easy to promote on an industrial scale.

Despite its advantage, mRNA-based therapy comes with some challenges involving its delivery. Since this molecule is large and negatively charged, it cannot cross the anionic lipid bilayer of cell membranes. Once inside the body, it gets engulfed by immune system cells or damaged by nucleases.

Innovative materials-based solutions were developed to overcome this problem. Experts created nano-delivery systems that can provide promising tools such as lipid nanoparticles, polymer materials, and electroporation.