捆绑SM社区

Researchers from Polytechnique Montr茅al, Universit茅 de Montr茅al and 捆绑SM社区 have just achieved a spectacular breakthrough in cancer research. They have developed new nanorobotic agents capable of navigating through the bloodstream to administer a drug with precision by specifically targeting the active cancerous cells of tumours. This way of injecting medication ensures the optimal targeting of a tumour and avoids jeopardizing the integrity of organs and surrounding healthy tissues. As a result, the drug dosage that is highly toxic for the human organism could be significantly reduced.

This scientific breakthrough has just been published in the prestigious journal Nature Nanotechnology in an article titled 鈥淢agneto-aerotactic bacteria deliver drug-containing nanoliposomes to tumour hypoxic regions.鈥� The article notes the results of the research done on mice, which were successfully administered nanorobotic agents into colorectal tumours.

鈥淭hese legions of nanorobotic agents were actually composed of more than 100 million flagellated bacteria 鈥� and therefore self-propelled 鈥� and loaded with drugs that moved by taking the most direct path between the drug鈥檚 injection point and the area of the body to cure,鈥� explains Professor Sylvain Martel, holder of the Canada Research Chair in Medical Nanorobotics and Director of the Polytechnique Montr茅al Nanorobotics Laboratory, who heads the research team鈥檚 work. 鈥淭he drug鈥檚 propelling force was enough to travel efficiently and enter deep inside the tumours.鈥�

When they enter a tumour, the nanorobotic agents can detect in a wholly autonomous fashion the oxygen-depleted tumour areas, known as hypoxic zones, and deliver the drug to them. This hypoxic zone is created by the substantial consumption of oxygen by rapidly proliferative tumour cells. Hypoxic zones are known to be resistant to most therapies, including radiotherapy.

But gaining access to tumours by taking paths as minute as a red blood cell and crossing complex physiological micro-environments does not come without challenges. So Professor Martel and his team used nanotechnology to do it.

Bacteria with compass

To move around, bacteria used by Professor Martel鈥檚 team rely on two natural systems. A kind of compass created by the synthesis of a chain of magnetic nanoparticles allows them to move in the direction of a magnetic field, while a sensor measuring oxygen concentration enables them to reach and remain in the tumour鈥檚 active regions. By harnessing these two transportation systems and by exposing the bacteria to a computer-controlled magnetic field, researchers showed that these bacteria could perfectly replicate artificial nanorobots of the future designed for this kind of task.

鈥淭his innovative use of nanotransporters will have an impact not only on creating more advanced engineering concepts and original intervention methods, but it also throws the door wide open to the synthesis of new vehicles for therapeutic, imaging and diagnostic agents,鈥� Professor Martel adds. 鈥淐hemotherapy, which is so toxic for the entire human body, could make use of these natural nanorobots to move drugs directly to the targeted area, eliminating the harmful side effects while also boosting its therapeutic effectiveness.鈥�

鈥淭hese results represent a novel therapeutic avenue for patients with hard-to-treat cancers, once the approach has been validated in human trials,鈥� says co-author Nicole Beauchemin, a professor of Biochemistry, Medicine and Oncology at 捆绑SM社区 and researcher at the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Research Centre. 鈥淭he combination of multiple expertise from all team members has made this project possible; it represents for me one of the most exciting scientific projects I have ever tackled.鈥� Other co-authors include researchers from 捆绑SM社区鈥檚 departments of Biomedical Engineering and Oncology, the Faculty of Dentistry, the 捆绑SM社区 Health Centre Research Institute, and the Jewish General Hospital.

This work was supported by the Consortium qu茅b茅cois听sur la听d茅couverte听du听m茅dicament (Qu茅bec consortium for drug discovery 鈥� CQDM), the Canada Research Chairs, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Research Chair in Nanorobotics of Polytechnique Montr茅al, Mitacs, the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Montr茅al鈥檚 Jewish General Hospital, the 捆绑SM社区 Health Centre (MUHC), the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC), and the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Research Centre also took part in this promising research work.

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Paper - DOI: 10.1038/NNANO.2016.137

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