Mol Ther: Breakthrough! Research and development of new methods for the treatment of liver cancer

May 4, 2020 /
Biovalley BIOON /-- In the latest issue of Molecular Therapy, researchers at Skoltech and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have published a new combination of therapies to treat liver cancer Using Dr Zatepin's expertise in iRNA , combined with lipid nano
particle technology developed by Anderon Labs (MIT), scientists targeted proteins associated with apoptosis (the regulatory process for cell death) In combination with chemotherapy, this method can significantly reduce the tumor load in mouse models of liver cancer liver cancer the fourth most common cancer in the world, with the incidence more than tripling since 1980 The advanced stage stousicity of this cancer is highly invasive and resistant to all traditional chemotherapy Until recently, polykinase inhibitor regorafenib and two different checkpoint inhibitors were approved for use in patients with progress after Sorafenib treatment, but this only increased the total lifetime of three months, highlighting the need to develop new treatments Picture Source: "All we did was shut down a mechanism that prevents cell death, especially in liver cells," explains Dominique Leboeuf, a doctoral student at Skoltech Lab and the study's first author.
"Once this mechanism is shut down, cells are more likely to die This makes chemotherapy more effective, killing more cancer cells and preventing them from splitting Although our iRNAs can reach all liver cells, cancer cells are more sensitive because they divide faster, so they are more affected by treatment and normal cells can survive "
these impressive results are the result of a long-term collaboration between Skoltech and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, led by Professors Kontantin Piatkov, Professor Timofei Zatepin and Professor Daniel Anderon Funded by the NGP program, the research is conducted at Skoltech and MIT, taking advantage of both teams to maximize learning experience for students and researchers Timofei Zatepin said: "This study is from K Piatkov's idea began when we started setting up an external joint laboratory in Skoltech This project combines Kontantin's knowledge of the N-degron pathway, my expertise in iRNA and Daniel Anderon's superior technology in the delivery of oligonucleotide drugs to develop a new treatment for liver cancer First, Dominique confirms that the proposed molecular mechanism allows for selective killing of tumor cells while retaining normal cells, which is critical to further drug development In collaboration with the Daniel Anderon Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, we demonstrated the prospects of this combination therapy in animal models to treat liver cancer We believe that the combination of iRNA with other drugs will provide solutions for many difficult-to-treat diseases "。 Professor Kontantin Piatkov, head of the study, said: "Because the target protein streated is expressed in all types of cells, the combination therapy developed in this study has the potential to be applied to all types of cancer Our approach is simple and universal, and we believe it has the potential to ultimately improve the prognosis of many cancer patients in the future (biovalleybioon.com) Reference: A new treatment for liver cancer
Dominique Leboeuf et al.
Downregulation of the Arg/N-degron Pathway Sinitize Cancer Cell to Newsy In Vivo
, Molecular Therapy (2020) DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2020.01.021