Scientists make cancer cells commit 'suicide': this is the future of cancer treatment

Scientists at Tel Aviv University (TAU) have for the first time managed to encode a bacteriological toxin into messenger RNA molecules, which delivered it to cancer cells and caused the disease to actually commit suicide. How does it all happen, told Columnist.

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The results of the study were published in the journal Theranostics.

The groundbreaking research was led by graduate student Yasmine Granot-Matok and Professor Dan Peer, a pioneer in the development of RNA therapy and head of the Nanomedicine Laboratory at the T. Schmunis, as well as TAU Vice President for Research and Development.

“Our idea was to deliver safe mRNA molecules encoding a bacterial toxin directly to cancer cells, thereby prompting them to produce a toxic protein that would subsequently kill them. It's like putting a Trojan horse inside a cancer cell,” Peer explained.

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Unlike chemotherapy, which kills both cancerous and healthy cells, the new method does not cause unnecessary harm to the cancer patient and hits the target.

First of all, scientists encoded into mRNA molecules the genetic information of a toxic protein produced by bacteria of the Pseudomonas family.

A similar technology was used to create an mRNA vaccine against coronavirus infections, when the genetic information of the COVID-19 adhesion protein was encoded into mRNA molecules.

Subsequently, the Nanomedicine Laboratory, led by Peer, developed lipid nanoparticles in which mRNA molecules were packaged. These particles were also coated with antibodies to make sure that the "instructions" from the mRNA to produce the toxin reached the cancer cells.

The particles were then injected into experimental mice with skin cancer.

“When a cancer cell reads the instructions, it begins to produce a toxin as if it were a bacterium itself, and this self-produced toxin eventually kills it. Thus, with a simple injection into the tumor bed, we can force cancer cells to “commit suicide” without damaging healthy cells,” Peer noted.

According to him, cancer cells will not be able to develop resistance to this technology, as is often the case with chemotherapy. To avoid this, it is enough for scientists to replace the natural toxin.

Tests showed that the first injection of such a drug killed 44-60% of cancer cells.

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According to the professor, using the Pseudomonas bacterium and testing it against melanoma is only "a matter of convenience."

Peer suggests that most of the toxins produced by anaerobic bacteria, especially those living in the soil, could probably be used in this method.

“This is our recipe, and we know how to deliver it directly to target cells using our nanoparticles,” the scientist concluded.

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