ITMO University has developed a technology that will make targeted therapy for oncological diseases more accurate, effective, and safe for humans. Currently, after targeted therapy, cancer cells stop dividing but remain alive in the body. Such treatment is not considered effective. With the Russian development, they will be destroyed: this will be aided by DNA constructs based on antisense oligonucleotides capable of distinguishing the concentration of oncomarkers in cells.
As soon as they enter oncological cells with a high number of oncomarkers, they cleave the RNA of genes responsible for the viability of the unhealthy cell. Healthy cells, even if they have several copies of oncomarkers, remain untouched. The research results were published in Chemical Communications.
The development by scientists from the ITMO "Nanotechnology of Nucleic Acids" laboratory is based on a binary antisense oligonucleotide.
Two of its chains were reconstructed into two variants of a DNA construct with a threshold function. The first variant needs two molecules of an oncomarker to bind to it in a cancer cell, and the second needs three molecules. By choosing a variant, we can regulate at what quantity to start anti-tumor therapy, where a high or low threshold concentration of oncomarkers is required to distinguish cancer cells from healthy ones. Now the antisense oligonucleotide reacts more precisely and selectively to cancer cells. Previously, the therapy caused the death of all cancer and healthy cells where there was at least one molecule of an oncomarker. Our method guarantees safer therapy.
If the DNA construct mistakenly chooses the wrong compound as an activator, therapy will be initiated in a normal cell, and this will negatively affect the body. But the Russian compound recognizes similar sequences and reacts only to cancer cells.
In the future, the development will be refined —the DNA construct will be selected individually based on the cells of a specific patient to combat their unique oncological disease. The DNA nanorobot will combine the functions of delivery, sensoring, data analysis, and therapy, and will initiate a regulated process of tumor cell death in the body.
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