Cancer-Targeting Nanopolymer Could Help Reduce Drug Side Effects

A biochemist from Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN) has developed a synthetic drug-delivery nanopolymer that could enable doctors to determine whether a cancer drug has hit its target. If successful, this technology could help reduce the side effects associated with cancer therapies.

Developed by W. Andy Tao, an associate professor of analytical chemistry and chemical biology, the drug-carrying nanopolymer can enter cells and then be removed, indicating which proteins in the cells the drug has entered. The nanopolymer is equipped with a chemical group that is reactive to small beads, which retrieve the nanopolymer and any attached proteins after the drug has been delivered. Mass spectrometry is then used to to determine which proteins the nanopolymer has targeted.

Tao demonstrated his nanopolymer's abilities using human cancer cells and the cancer drug methotrexate. After tracking the nanopolymer using a fluorescent dye, Tao broke the cells and retrieved the material.

"Many cancer drugs are not very specific. They target many different proteins," Tao remarks. "That can have a consequence--what we call side effects." Thus, knowing which proteins are targeted could enable drug developers to test which proteins their drugs target.

In addition to providing more-effective drug delivery capability, Tao's nanopolymer could perhaps provide a better delivery platform for drugs that do not dissolve well in water. Because it is water soluble, the nanopolymer can enter cells more effectively than a stand-alone drug that is only minimally water-soluble.

The results of Tao's research are published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.