Novel targeted approach for prostate cancer tested
A new, targeted RNA therapy has been shown to be effective in a mouse
model of prostate cancer, according to research published
online in
Nature Biotechnology on 25 June 2006.
US researchers combined two approaches to create a hybrid drug — a
targeting moiety, called an aptamer, and an RNA-silencing moiety, called
a small interfering RNA (siRNA). siRNA molecules can silence gene expression
but, until now, researchers have had problems delivering them across
cell membranes and targeting them to specific cells.
Aptamer-siRNA chimeric RNAs bind to prostate specific membrane antigen
(PSMA), a cell surface receptor overexpressed in prostate cancer cells
and in tumour vascular endothelium. They do not bind to or function in
cells that do not express PSMA.
The researchers say that aptamer-siRNA chimeric RNAs offer several advantages
over proteins: they have low immunogenicity, they can easily be synthesised
in large quantities at low cost and they are amenable to a variety of
chemical modifications.
The researchers showed that the molecules effectively mediated tumour
regression in a mouse model of prostate cancer and they say that, in
the future, they may prove to be useful drugs for treating human prostate
cancer and other diseases. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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