Nanoparticles Show Promise Against Dementia & Cancer | TechNews

The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in Australia has developed new nanoparticles called “Nanoparticle-Mediated Targeting Chimeras” (NPTACs), which can degrade harmful proteins related to dementia and cancer. The innovation is that it can guide proteins into the body’s natural recycling system for decomposition, which is very important for “drug-resistant” patients who cannot be treated with traditional drugs.

Team leader Dr. Shi Bingyang pointed out that when proteins mutate, misfold, or accumulate excessively in the wrong location, they can interfere with normal cellular processes and cause disease. Many diseases, such as cancer, dementia and autoimmune diseases, are driven by abnormal proteins whose shapes or behaviors make them particularly resistant to drug treatments.

NPTACs are designed to flexibly degrade specific disease-related proteins. Their potential is not limited to cancer, but can also be extended to treat neurodegenerative diseases, especially conditions that accumulate harmful proteins in the brain.

Dr. Shi said that the key to new technologies is flexibility and scalability, and the ability to quickly adapt to new treatments. Early preclinical results show that NPTACs are quite successful at degrading EGFR, a protein that drives tumor growth, and PD-L1, a protein that helps cancer cells evade the immune system.

The protein degradation market is estimated to exceed US$10 billion by 2030, and NPTACs provide a powerful platform for the next generation of precision medicine. Dr. Shi said that the team is looking for strategic partners to accelerate clinical development and prepare to obtain application authorization and regulatory approval.

(First image source: Pixabay)