Utilizing Nanotechnology for drug delivery in cancer treatment

By: Evan Burke, Yizhou Chen, George Jackson, Max Marek, Luke Rausch

Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy

● Chemotherapy and immunotherapy work to kill cancerous tumors in different ways

● Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy do not have accurate delivery systems

● Nanotechnology delivery systems can lead to much improved drug delivery accuracy

● Goal: apoptotic or necrotic tumor cell death

http://www.frontiersin.org/files/Articles/104683/fonc-04-00188-HTML/image_m/fonc-04-00188-g001.jpg

Immunotherapy & The Immune Response● Refers to treatment of tumors by inducing

an immune response to attack and destroy tumor cells

● T Cells are vital to the process of removing cancerous tumors

● T Cell response are triggered when tumor cells release antigens

● Research suggests that when chemotherapy and immunotherapy are used together they may have synergetic effects

doi:10.1038/nrc1613

Drug Delivery - A Brief Introduction

Designing new drugs requires years of research and testing, very expensive

Instead, if we improve how efficiently our drugs work, we can make huge strides in medicine by using things we’ve already invented

Drug delivery involves attaching the active ingredient to some kind of device or molecule which will bring it to the area of interest

In the case of Nanotech Drug Delivery, this involves using a nanoparticle carrier

Nanoparticles.

● 1-100 nm in width● Can have varied

properties ○ Physical○ Biological○ Chemical

● Often either a metal or lipid

Hydrogels

http://www.gcsescience.com/o70.htm

https://www1.udel.edu/PR/UDaily/2008/jul/gels071807.html

● Polymer chains● Hydrophilic● Responds to different

environmental factors○ Fluid salinity○ Glucose levels○ Electric or magnetic

fields

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liposome

Liposomes

● Versatile● Permit a slow drug

release● Low toxicity

Drug TargetingThe main challenge this technology faces is improving the method of delivery. An appropriate compound must be selected to which our nanoparticle will bind to ensure it is absorbed into the cancerous cell via endocytosis.

Proposed Targeting Methods

Low density Lipoprotein (Cholesterol): Lipoproteins are proteins that move lipids around the body and facilitate them being taken up by cells. Cancerous cells uptake 100 times more LDL than normal cells, so binding the nanoparticles to LDL is a proposed drug carrier

Folic Acid: This compound participates in nucleotide synthesis, so rapidly dividing cells like cancerous ones need a lot of it. Folate receptors are highly overexpressed in cancer cells, so binding the nanoparticle to it is potentially a very good way to get the drug inside the cell.

Many many more...

Drug Release- Can be regulated by a variety of factors via selective solubility:

- pH sensitive

- Electromagnetic Waves

- Glucose and and salt concentration

- With better drug delivery systems, treatment can be much more efficient

- Less undesirable side effects with more accurate drug testing

http://cen.acs.org/content/cen/articles/91/web/2013/02/Multiblock-Polymer-Nanoparticles-Attack-Tumors/_jcr_content/articlebody/subpar/articlemedia_0.img.jpg/1466565923108.jpg

Engineering Aspects

Nanoparticle Design

Diffusion through circulatory cells

Different types

Nanosystems

Binding ligands

Imaging Technology

MRI & Fluorescent Imaging

Nanoprobes

Hydrogel impacts

Lowers inflammatory agents involved

Engineering Challenges

Limited research in the field

Professional collaboration

Precision of nanoparticles

As the technology improves so will effectiveness of drug delivery

Drug mediation

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjK28eD0tTQAhUGVyYKHe86AoAQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fscienceofsingularity.com%2Ftag%2Fmultifunctional-nanoparticle%2F&psig=AFQjCNGgLIoSlD7x3Ifj3B0VHO57UivXqA&ust=1480738188062251

Challenges

Adapting pre-existing methods

Expansion of old technology into new fields

Targeted delivery

Developing methods for the nanoparticles to seek out tumors

Cornell dots could provide a solution to several issues

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiiiOHHg9vQAhXCWSYKHTRDBtoQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news.cornell.edu%2Fstories%2F2009%2F08%2Fworlds-tiniest-laser-opens-doors-miniaturization&bvm=bv.140496471,bs.2,d.cGw&psig=AFQjCNEUjJ89fF7njZ7KYwPZ94PtNrPYUg&ust=1480957713563528

Questions?