Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –
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SPbPU specialists have improved the effectiveness of targeted delivery of anticancer drugs to tumors. The scientists discovered that by coating drug nanoparticles with a mixture of substances that make up a third of the brain, they can precisely release the active substance in cancer cells with minimal effect on healthy tissue. The results are published in the Journal of Controlled Release. RIA Novosti.
Chemotherapy side effects—hair loss, nausea, and fatigue—occur because toxic drugs attack not only the tumor but also healthy cells. The drugs circulate through the bloodstream, even reaching unaffected tissue.
This behavior of drugs in the patient's body also reduces the overall effectiveness of treatment: only a small portion of the administered drug reaches its target. To achieve targeted drug delivery to the tumor site, it is possible to use nanocarriers—"containers" that shield the active substance from the external environment and can be controlled externally, noted Sergei Shipilovskikh, a leading researcher and associate professor at the Higher School of Biomedical Systems and Technologies at SPbPU.
These "containers" can be tagged with tags that are specific only to cancer cells, but not to healthy ones. Scientists from SPbPU and their colleagues from ITMO University discovered that applying a mixture of biological substances to the surface of nanoparticles reduces the "recognizability" of the nanocontainer to healthy cells and delivers the active substance precisely to the target.
The scientists used lecithin—a mixture of natural fats, fatty acids, and other components—to coat the nanocontainers. The human brain contains 30 percent lecithin, so the drug won't cause rejection or an immune reaction.
According to our results, approximately 80 percent of the active substance is released from the nanocontainer, which consists of silicon dioxide and is coated with a lipid shell of lecithin, specifically in cancer cells. Moreover, the effect is prolonged: the drug is not released completely at once, but gradually, exerting a cumulative effect within the tumor space, explained Sergey Shipilovskikh.
The researcher also explained that using the active ingredient in nanoparticles, rather than in its free form, is also advantageous in terms of storage conditions. In a nanocontainer, the drug is protected from atmospheric oxygen, light, and other external influences.
According to the scientists, the accumulation of nanoparticles in tumors is due to both the structural features of the lipid membrane and the fact that tumor cells are capable of more active metabolism than healthy cells. In the future, the scientists plan to elucidate the detailed mechanism of lecithin-coated nanoparticle uptake by cells and continue developing a universal system for delivering anticancer drugs to various cancer cell types.
The study was carried out within the framework of the federal program "Priority 2030".
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