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The European Alliance for Chronic Diseases has defined cancer as the largest noncommunicable disease of our time, accounting for 13% of all deaths worldwide. The most common cancer is bad cancer. It accounts for more than 10.4% of the cancer incidence among women and more than 400,000 deaths annually worldwide.
In particular, the complex structure of tumors makes targeted and effective medical treatment of bad cancer a major medical challenge. Different approaches and substances have been shown to be effective in therapy, including selenium, a physiologically essential nutrient element, as a component of selenium. Its antioxidant properties inhibit or slow the progression of the disease and activate the immune-defensive cells of the body.
"So far, selenium has been used as a dietary supplement to accompany chemotherapy or radiation therapy," explains Alexandra Herrero-Rollett. In collaboration with her colleague Doris Ribitsch, researcher at the Austrian Center for Industrial Biotechnology (acib) at the Tulln site (Lower Austria), selenium not only uses selenium for the prevention or treatment of adverse effects of cancer treatments, but also for the first time in the treatment of the tumor: a consortium of five EU partners Neosetac is currently developing a new selenium-based bad cancer nanoparticle therapy, derived from industry and science .
Effect and delivery of improved drugs
The prior use and badociated effects of selenium compounds were limited on the one hand because of their complex chemical structure and the relatively short half-life of the chemical element in the human body ranging up to 5%. At 6 o'clock. On the other hand, the exact dose is crucial: high-dose selenium is toxic and can cause unwanted side effects. By injecting selenium compounds into biodegradable nanoparticles (NPs) and coupling them to antibodies, researchers have developed a promising way to dramatically improve the delivery and effectiveness of drugs in narrow therapeutic settings. cancer.
Nanoparticles for the targeted treatment of tumors
In order for selenium compounds to remain stable during transport to the desired destination, biotechnologists wrap the drug with tiny biological capsules, also known as nanocapsules. Thanks to this method, discovered for the first time in 1979 by the Parisian researcher Patrick Couvreur, the drugs are only released gradually by the metabolic cycle of the human body. They seem more accurate. "In the concrete example of Neosetac, human albumin has been shown to be a suitable material for the production of nanocapsules," says Ribitsch.
The concentration of this protein in the blood is greatly reduced in patients with bad cancer, especially in malignant tissues. To balance the protein balance, the body carries the serum protein introduced via osmotic pressure into the tissues.
Active drug targeting
However, for selenium compounds to act only in tumor lesions or metastases and not in healthy tissues, researchers use Active Drug Targeting: Human albumin nanocapsules are "equipped" by the drug. Use of enzymes and biotechnological methods via a covalent bond with antibodies. As modern biomarkers, they transport drugs by blood exclusively into the desired target tissue, where they connect to the proteins of the tumor cells and initiate apopotosis (cell death).
More effective therapies, less side effects
With the new nanocapsule-based therapy method, experts are expecting more effective therapeutic approaches, better drug compatibility and far fewer side effects. The research will also help increase the effectiveness of future chemotherapy and prevent recurrence of the disease after a complete response.
At the project
The Neosetac project (new targeted nanocapsules based on selenium to treat bad cancer), with a duration of four years and a volume of projects of more than 500 000 €, will be financed by the program of Horizon 2020 research and innovation of the EU under the name of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie funding. No. 778325 supported. The Austrian Center for Industrial Biotechnology (acib), in addition to the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain), works as a project manager alongside other partners, notably the Karolinska Institutet and the University Hospital. Karolinska from Stockholm (Sweden), AntibodyBCN SL from Barcelona (Spain) and the Austrian Institute for Drug Testing (ADSI) from Innsbruck (Austria) to Neosetac.
About acib
The Austrian Center for Industrial Biotechnology (acib) develops new processes, more environmentally friendly and more economical for the industry (biotechnology, chemistry, pharmacy) using the methods of nature as a model and tools of nature as a tool. The acib, a non-profit organization, is an international center for industrial biotechnology research located in Graz, Innsbruck, Tulln, Vienna (AUT), Bielefeld, Heidelberg and Hamburg (GER), as well as Pavia (ITA), Canterbury (NZL) and Taiwan (CHN) and sees itself as a partnership of more than 150 universities and businesses. Among them are well-known companies such as BASF, DSM, Sandoz, Boehringer Ingelheim RCV, Jungbunzlauer or VTU Technology. More than 250 acib employees are currently working on more than 175 research projects.
Owners of acib are the Universities of Innsbruck and Graz, the Graz University of Technology, the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna and Joanneum Research . The K2 center is funded by the BMVIT, BMWFW and the states of Styria, Vienna, Lower Austria and Tyrol as part of COMET – Competence Centers for Excellent Technology. The COMET program is managed by the FFG.
scientific contact:
Dr. Doris Ribitsch
Principal Investigator
acib – Austrian Center for Industrial Biotechnology
(+43) 1 47654 97487
[email protected]
idw 2018/10
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