Spherical gold microgels against breast cancer
It is yet another achievement of Andalusian research, in this case in the fight against breast cancer. Now it is a question of improving the vehicle with which to get medicines exactly where they are needed. This has been achieved by a team of scientists from the universities of Granada and Malaga. They have managed to transport an antitumor drug called paclitaxel in hollow microcapsules, generated using gold "seeds," and successfully tested them in breast cancer cell cultures. The results have been published in the prestigious journal Nano Research.
Although paclitaxel (Taxol ®) is one of the most effective agents for the treatment of women suffering from breast cancer, its serious side effects limit its use in these patients. The toxicity that it produces is manifested, among other things, by the development of intense pain (peripheral neuropathy) after its administration, which can lead to discontinuation of treatment.
In addition, its low solubility means that it must be administered with solvents (for example, Cremophor EL) that cause hypersensitivity reactions that can become serious (anaphylaxis). Therefore, the development of microcontainers that help transport the drug and avoid its side effects is presented as a possible alternative to improve the results of the treatment of patients with breast cancer.
The research has been led by José Carlos Prados Salazar, professor in the Department of Human Anatomy and Embryology and member of the Biomedical Research Center (CIBM) of the UGR and the Institute for Biosanitary Research in Granada, and by Juan Manuel López Romero, professor of the Department of Organic Chemistry of the UMA, and has been developed within an Excellence Research Project directed by Professor José Manuel Baeyens Cabrera, professor of the Department of Pharmacology and also a member of the CIBM of the UGR and the ibs.Granada.
The project has had the collaboration of researchers from the Institute for Biosanitary Research ibs.Granada, the Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital in Granada and the Department of Nanostructured Materials of the University of Dresden (Germany).
Studies have shown for the first time that hollow microgels developed after oxidation of gold nuclei in 4-vinylpyridine nanoparticles are an excellent method of transporting paclitaxel without the need for toxic solvents.
This form of use of the drug also increases its antitumor activity and allows it to penetrate more efficiently into the tumor mass (multicellular spheroids). The versatility of this polymer will allow the drug paclitaxel to be targeted more precisely and efficiently against tumor cells.
On the other hand, the biocompatibility of the hollow microgels of the 4-vinylpyridine polymer guarantees that they can be used in vivo, research that is currently being carried out.
Bibliographic reference:
Paclitaxel-loaded hollow-poly (4-vinylpyridine) nanoparticles enhance drug chemotherapeutic efficacy in lung and breast cancer cell lines
Rafael Contreras-Cáceres, María C. Leiva, Raúl Ortiz, Amelia Díaz, Gloria Perazzoli, Miguel A. Casado-Rodríguez, Consolación Melguizo, Jose M. Baeyens, Juan M. López-Romero, Jose Prados
Nano Research, 2017, 10 (3), pp 856-875
