Lambasting Leukemia With Nanoparticle "Smart Bombs"

By Chuck Seegert, Ph.D.

A so-called “smart bomb” has recently been designed to attack chemotherapy-resistant leukemia cells using RNA interference (RNAi) molecules. Patients who have relapsed after initial treatment may benefit from this new approach.

RNAi is a cellular process used to inhibit gene expression. RNA molecules are the molecules directly produced by genes, which are then used to produce proteins through a messenger RNA (mRNA) mediator. These proteins are the expression of the gene, but RNAi acts to prevent their production by interfering with mRNA molecules.  

The smart bomb therapy is an RNAi approach that targets CD22, an abnormal protein that is present in cancer stem cells, according to a recent press release from the University of Southern California (USC). CD22 appears to cause cancer stem cells to proliferate and resist chemotherapy.

The research team showed that both the pediatric and adult forms of the B-lineage lymphoid leukemia have a very high incidence of the CD22 gene, according to a study published by the team in EBioMedicine. Using RNAi molecules that targeted CD22, the team also showed that the clonogenicity, or the leukemia cell’s ability to replicate, was markedly reduced, thereby providing a preclinical proof of concept.

Working with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, an affiliate with the NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer, the USC team developed a 100 nanometer particle that may take the therapy into clinical testing.

“The goal is to translate our recent research discoveries in nanotechnology and biotherapy into effective patient-tailored treatment programs for the most common form of childhood cancer,” said Fatih Uckun professor of research pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine at USC and head of translational research in leukemia lymphoma at the Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, according to the press release.

Nanoparticles have been prominent in the development of therapies targeting cancer, especially therapies that are tailored to activate at specific locations or at specific times. Recently, nanoparticles that can generate heat inside a cancer cell and destroy it have been developed. Additionally, other nanoparticle designs have been used to target cancer cells under the influence of magnetic fields.

Image Credit: Fatih Uckun