{"id":83992,"date":"2015-03-08T19:13:35","date_gmt":"2015-03-08T17:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/blog\/the-magic-bullet-of-chemotherapy\/"},"modified":"2015-03-08T19:13:35","modified_gmt":"2015-03-08T17:13:35","slug":"the-magic-bullet-of-chemotherapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/the-magic-bullet-of-chemotherapy\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u2018Magic Bullet\u2019 of Chemotherapy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\u201cNano-skeletons\u2019<\/a>
\u201cNano-skeletons\u2019 (in red) delivered to human tissue infected by prostate cancer. The infected cells are colored in blue (PIP) and green (cytoplasmic); it is possible to see how the \u2018nano-skeletons\u2019 reach them<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Florida native Dr. Beth Schoen, is part of a team developing a novel platform for delivering anti-cancerous drugs directly to its mark as part of her postdoctoral research at the Technion<\/p>\n

Beth Schoen, born in Hollywood Florida, came to the Technion to conduct her postdoctoral research at age 26. In her very limited spare time she plays soccer for the leading all women\u2019s soccer team \u2013 Maccabi Hadera \u2013 and studies Hebrew. \u201cThe Hebrew thing is no simple matter,\u201d she confesses, \u201cbut I\u2019m willing to make the effort, because it\u2019s clear to me that Israel is where I want to live.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Beth Schoen completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Florida, and her doctorate at Michigan State University in chemical engineering. \u201cMy doctoral studies focused on synthetic organic chemistry, particularly on the development of polymers with unique thermodynamic attributes especially resistant to high temperatures. These types of materials are used in part for the production of jet engine parts, body armor and Nomex (used for making fire-resistant gloves and overalls). One of our tasks was to create soft sheets that were not brittle, to be worn to be both bulletproof and fire resistant. It was a theoretical study, but as part of the process I also produced some of these polymers and tested them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Schoen planned to come to the Technion as part of her doctoral studies, but, she adds, \u201cIt didn\u2019t work out, so I started to check where I could best fit in here in my future studies.\u201d She decided to join Prof. Marcelle Machluf\u2019s laboratory, at the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, \u201cI was eager to move from chemistry to biology and pursue cancer research in particular. I was very glad for the tremendous opportunity that Marcelle gave me in taking me on \u2013 perhaps it was because of my experience in nanomaterials and polymers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prof. Marcelle Machluf\u2019s research team consists of 17 female and 3 males students, researchers and technicians working on two main projects: (1) the development of scaffolds to rehabilitate damaged heart-tissue, and (2) the development of new technology to deliver drug treatment to damaged (sick) tissue (specifically related to cancer therapy). In an interview with her she focused on the second project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current treatment for cancer involves radiotherapy and chemotherapy usually administered through intravenous infusion. The cancer drugs available are extremely effective, yet the way they are put to use in present day treatment, they also cause damage to healthy tissues. These are very potent drugs \u2013 they are intended to kill cancer cells \u2013 and on their way they also end up killing healthy ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe greatest damage is caused to rapidly dividing cells, which are similar to cancer cells. Hair follicle cells, for example, are a type of rapidly dividing cells and they damage easily from these types of treatment, which explains the hair loss in patients undergoing chemotherapy. Other side-effects include nausea and hearing loss, sometimes even leading to deafness. The drug Cisplatin for example, is a type of chemo drug used to treat various types of lung and breast cancers; some of its side-effects include damage to renal and immune system functioning, putting patients at risk to infections and diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n

These impediments are what fuel Prof. Machluf\u2019s drive to develop a new drug delivery platforms capable of delivering anti-cancer drugs directly to the tumor without damaging healthy tissues on its way. \u201cThis is the top priority of cancer treatment: to develop a \u2018magic bullet\u2019 that target cancer cells,\u201d explains Prof. Machluf. \u201cAnd our new platform may be the solution to this great challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new platform is based on \u2018depleting\u2019 specific cells \u2013 mesenchymal stem cells \u2013 so that there is nothing left of them save for the membrane. This membrane, called a ghost cells can be down sized to nano-vesicles, termed nano-ghosts, which can be loaded with any drug and delivered by injection directly into the blood stream. The immune system falls for the trap and does not recognize the \u2018intruder,\u2019 instead it treats these cells as if they were naturally part of the system and sends them to the afflicted area. On the way to their target they do not release the drug they are carrying and therefore do not do any damage to healthy tissues. Only upon reaching the malignant tissue, which they know how to identify, do they break down and secrete their contents at the site of the tumor cells.<\/p>\n

This original idea was tested in a long series of experiments, and the results are very impressive: these nano-ghosts are in fact tumor selective, no matter the type of tumor. They \u2018dash\u2019 straight to the malignant tissue without emitting their drug on the way and without damaging healthy cells. Moreover, this unique \u2018parcel\u2019 increases the effectiveness of the treatment by ten-fold. Animal studies have shown that the employment of nano-ghosts for anti-cancer drug delivery have led to an 80% delay of prostate cancer \u2013 an unprecedented rate.<\/p>\n

Still, there is a lot of work ahead, as Prof. Machluf\u2019s research team works on improving the mechanism of this novel new platform: some of them are focusing on compatibility with specific drugs while others, like Dr. Beth Schoen, are concentrating on improving the nano-ghosts \u201cThis platform must be very precise,\u201d explains Schoen. \u201cIt must be able to endure travelling through the entire human body, and release its contents only inside the tumor.\u201d<\/p>\n

The research is being carried out in collaboration with the\u00a0Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Florida native Dr. Beth Schoen, is part of a team developing a novel platform for delivering anti-cancerous drugs directly to its mark as part of her postdoctoral research at the Technion Beth Schoen, born in Hollywood Florida, came to the Technion to conduct her postdoctoral research at age 26. In her very limited spare time… Continue Reading The \u2018Magic Bullet\u2019 of Chemotherapy<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe \u2018Magic Bullet\u2019 of Chemotherapy - \u05d4\u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d9\u05d5\u05df-\u05de\u05db\u05d5\u05df \u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d5\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d9 \u05dc\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/the-magic-bullet-of-chemotherapy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The \u2018Magic Bullet\u2019 of Chemotherapy - \u05d4\u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d9\u05d5\u05df-\u05de\u05db\u05d5\u05df \u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d5\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d9 \u05dc\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Florida native Dr. Beth Schoen, is part of a team developing a novel platform for delivering anti-cancerous drugs directly to its mark as part of her postdoctoral research at the Technion Beth Schoen, born in Hollywood Florida, came to the Technion to conduct her postdoctoral research at age 26. 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