TAU researchers induce cancer cell suicide with bacterial toxin. For the first time, scientists encoded a toxin into mRNA molecules and delivered them to cancer cells, causing the cells to produce the toxin that eventually killed them.
The Jerusalem Post JULY 2, 2023
SCIENCE NEWS JULY 3, 2023
Many bacteria secrete toxins. The most famous of these is probably the botulinum toxin injected in Botox treatments. Another classic treatment technique is chemotherapy, involving the delivery of small molecules through the bloodstream to effectively kill cancer cells. However, chemotherapy has a major downside: it is not selective and also kills healthy cells. Our idea was to deliver safe mRNA molecules encoded for a bacterial toxin directly to the cancer cells – inducing these cells to actually produce the toxic protein that would later kill them. It’s like placing a Trojan horse inside the cancer cell.”
First, the research team encoded the genetic info of the toxic protein produced by bacteria of the pseudomonas family into mRNA molecules. The mRNA molecules were then packaged in lipid nanoparticles developed in Prof. Peer’s laboratory and coated with antibodies – to make sure that the instructions for producing the toxin would reach their target, the cancer cells. The particles were injected into the tumors of animal models with melanoma skin cancer. After a single injection, 44-60% of the cancer cells vanished.
Granot-Matok Y, et al (2023) Lipid Nanoparticles-Loaded with Toxin mRNA Represents a New Strategy for the Treatment of Solid Tumors. Theranostic 13(11): 3467-3478. PDF