Researchers from Sant Pau, CIBER (CIBER-BBN) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (IBB-UAB) have developed a new type of protein biomaterial that allows for the continuous release in time of therapeutic proteins when administered subcutaneously. in laboratory animals.
Precision medicine is gaining prominence today, delivering more effective personalized therapies for each patient and innovative pharmacological developments. In the field of oncology, for example, different approaches to the directed and controlled release of drugs are being developed, reducing their toxicity to the body.
“These structures, measuring just a few microns in diameter, contain functional proteins that are released in a manner similar to the release of human hormones in the endocrine system,” says Antonio Villaverde, a researcher at CIBER-BBN / IIB-UAB and one of the work coordinators.
The work is the result of stable scientific collaboration between Antonio Villaverde’s group and the Oncogenesis and Antitumor Research Group, led by Dr. Ramon Mangues at the Research Institute of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau – IIB Sant Pau and has had the participation of the Institute for Biological and Technological Research of the National University of Córdoba -CONICET, in Argentina .
Dr. Mangues, also a CIBER-BBN researcher and co-author of the work, explains that “the new biomaterial mimics a common bacterial product in biotechnological processes called ‘inclusion bodies’, of pharmacological interest, which in this artificial version offers a wide range of therapeutic possibilities in the field of oncology and in any other clinical setting that requires sustained release over time. ”
Researchers have used common enzymes in biotechnology as a model and a nanostructured bacterial toxin targeted at metastatic human colorectal cancer cells, which has been tested in animal models. “In this way we have been able to generate both immobilized catalysts and a new long-acting antitumor drug,” said those responsible for the research.
Huge potential in the clinic
Developed artificial protein granules, previously proposed as ‘nanopills’ (tablets of therapeutic material on a nanoscopic scale), mimic bacterial inclusion bodies and offer enormous potential in the field of vaccology and as a clinic controlled drug release systems.
Developed artificial protein granules, previously proposed as ‘nanopills’ (tablets of therapeutic material on a nanoscopic scale), mimic bacterial inclusion bodies and offer enormous potential in the field of vaccology and as a clinic controlled drug release systems.
“We have seen that natural inclusion bodies, administered as medicines, can generate unwanted immune responses due to inevitable contamination with bacterial materials,” say researchers. However, in the new work, the development of secretion-capable artificial inclusion bodies “avoids many of the regulatory problems associated with the potential development of bacterial ‘nanopills’, and offers a cross-platform for component production. in cosmetics and in clinics. ”
This work points to artificial inclusion bodies as a new exploitable category of biomaterials for biotechnological applications, as a result of simple fabrication and forecasting of clinical applications.
Reference article
Julieta M. Sánchez, Hèctor López‐Laguna, Patricia Álamo, Naroa Serna, Alejandro Sánchez‐Chardi, Verónica Nolan, Olivia Cano‐Garrido, Isolda Casanova, Ugutz Unzueta, Esther Vazquez, Ramon Mangues, Antonio Villaverde. Artificial Inclusion Bodies for Clinical Development
