Good Things. Small Packages.
Specialized microvesicles can efficiently deliver tissue-specific drugs while avoiding adverse effects.
Imagine a drug therapy system capable of distributing treatment straight to infected or damaged cells while avoiding healthy cell “friendly fire” and its resulting side effects. Where chemotherapy drugs or genetic therapy RNAs are delivered right to a cell in need using microscopic packages. Thanks to expanding knowledge of cellular exosomes, a new drug delivery method fitting these qualifications could be right around the corner.
Exosomes are tiny vesicular packages produced by every cell in the body. Scientist can fill these double membrane spheres to the brim with signaling molecules, proteins, or genetic materials. After stamping the target cell’s address via arrangement of membrane proteins, the cell can send off the exosome to surrounding recipient cells as a signaling method. A process called exocytosis ships these packages out from the cellular post office. Acting as water-tight bubble wrap, the exosome protects its fragile contents such as RNA from harsh extracellular environments while making its way through circulation. Unique receptors of the recipient cell allow it to recognize and bind the exosome. Through membrane fusion, the contents sent from the dispatcher cell are released into recipient cytosol. This starts a cellular response ranging from genetic expression to even cellular death.
With this information in mind, scientists have utilized these versatile delivery devices to carry cargo of their own design. Research involving exosomes as drug delivery vehicles has been a hot topic and the sheer volume of positive, supporting results is staggering. Bioengineering and synthetic pa...
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...of the three Johnson says to be “the most widely used approach,” as cells can be manipulated to genetically express specific targeting proteins on surfaces of the exosomes they produce.
Finally, for a patient to take a drug such as this, comfortable-or at least bearable- administration is ideal. Forms of drug administration of studies noted and those compiled by Johnson and his team include injection as a vaccine into the blood stream, injection straight into the infected area such as right into a tumor, orally as a pill, and through the nasal passage likely as a spray. Although patient comfort is a consideration, it is also of great importance that the administration route be the most effective in treating the disease. The right balance between patient comfort and drug efficiency is necessary before exosome-based delivery systems will be available to the public.
Friendship means different things for everyone. It can mean happiness and trust. Friends are important to connect to, talk to, and to help in tough situations. Friends help teach life lessons. Most importantly, friends are there to love and to feel loved. The Simple Gift by Steven Herrick revolves around the friendship between the main characters, Old Bill, Billy, and Caitlin. Their friendship resulted in them learning valuable life lessons and experiencing the power of love.
...des dissolving of 100mg of PC into 15 ml ethanol and then this solution mixture is added drop-wise into a Vitamin C solution. Continuous stirring is required. The conditions like low temperature and moisture content can be achieved. The organic solvent is then evaporated and by maintaining pH at 7.4 of the phosphate buffer solution (PBS), the solvent traces are removed. The Liposome dispersion is then stored under vacuum overnight. The liposome size can be downsized by sonication. Liposome characterisation i.e. size and surface structure can be observed using cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) (27).
Either transduction or transfection can be used to get the therapeutic genes into the patients system. Transfection is when the genes are introduced physically or chemically in a way that allows the cell membrane to be temporarily permeable to a foreign DNA. In the second method used for gene therapy, transduction, there is a beneficial gene added into the genetic material of the virus, which then is allowed to infect the target cell which is the indirect transfer method for gene therapy.
It was in the 1980’s that scientist began looking at alternative ways of treatments, one is gene therapy. Scientist would insert human genes into a bacteria cell. Then the bacteria cell would transcribe and translate the information into a protein. Once that is done the scientist would then introduce the protein into human cells. Gene therapy can be simply viewed as inserting bits of foreign DNA into a patient’s tissue in hope...
First of all, what are ES cells and how can they help us? ES cells are non-specialized cells found in the human body and are capable of multiplying and creating all types of specific cells. ES cells are developed in an in vitro fertilization clinic and not in a woman’s womb, as the name seems to indicate. Because these cells have the ability to develop into any type of cell, the research potential for ES cells is very promising. If the correct genes can be turned on they could regenerate tissue cells that are incapable or too damaged to replace themselves. Or they can be used to find and correct genetic defects or degenerative diseases. ES cells offer a promising future to many people even if that f...
Gene therapy works by introducing new and functioning genetic material to damaged genes to help it function and to produce beneficial proteins. If a gene is inserted directly into a cell, it usually will not function. So to complete this task, a vector, a modified virus is used to carry and deliver the new gene. There are two different categories of vectors than can be utilized in this process; recomb...
Wang, K., Wu, X., & Huang, J. (2013, February 28). Cancer stem cell theory: therapeutic implications for nanomedicine. Retrieved December 12, 2013, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3589204/
Almost everyone is touched by cancer in some way and the number of people living with and beyond cancer grows greater every year. Globally 14 million people are diagnosed with cancer each year and 8 million people will die from it annually. Half of all men and one-third of all women will develop cancer during their lifetime. (13) There are many treatments for cancer, mainly: surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. These traditional treatments have many negative side effects. Therefore, increasingly, other treatments, such as hormonal therapy and targeted therapy are being used for certain cancers. Nanotechnology is a form of targeted therapy that destroys cancer tumors with minimal damage to healthy tissues and organs. Scientists are already using nanotechnology in early detection of elimination of cancer cells before they form tumors. But the real game changer will be when nanotechnology targets cancer tumors in treatment (11,13).
...he removal of millions of white blood cells called T cells, which are then genetically modified and restructured to target the cancer cells. These cells are then returned to the patient’s body where they multiply to fight off the cancer (Marchione). This and other recent clinical successes are most encouraging and have led to a renewal of interest in gene therapy with scientists, doctors, commentators all calling for continued investment in the area.
Viral vectors use viruses to transport a modified gene into a patient's body. They are right now be...
"Gene Delivery: Tools Of The Trade." Gene Delivery: Tools Of The Trade. Web. 19 May 2014.
...y into a cell it usually will not function the desired way. Instead, a carrier called a vector is genetically engineered to deliver the gene. Certain viruses are often used as vectors because they can deliver the new gene by infecting the cell. The viruses are modified so they can’t cause disease and will not be fought off by the patient’s immune system. The vector can be injected or given by IV directly into a specific place in the patient’s body. The vector can also be introduced after , a sample of the patient’s cells are removed and exposed to the vector in a lab. The cells with the vector are then returned to the patient.
The most common type of radiation therapy that is used involves exposure of patients to external radiations. In this method, a beam containing high-energy X-rays is directed to a specific region of the body to irradiate the main tumors. However, the problem with this technique is that the ability to hit normal tissues of adjacent organs (Noda et al., 2009). Different from this, targeted radionuclide therapy functions like chemotherapy. A radionuclide labeled molecule is administered either orally or intravenously such that it delivers radiations that are sufficiently toxic to the site of the disease to kill the target cells (Bolus & Brady, 2011). However, the main difference with chemotherapy is that the drugs or toxins only...
Jena, Anupam B., Seth Seabury, Darius Lakdawalla, and Amitabh Chandra. "Abstract." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 18 Aug. 2011. Web. 01 May 2014.
Gene therapy assists in explaining the nature of infectious diseases, in particular, the interactions between an invading microbes and their host’s immune defense system. A gene must be carried by a “vehicle”, or vector in order for the therapeutic gene to counterattack the disease. The use of vectors (genetically engineered retroviral) infect human genes, which overwrite defective genes and become functional again. The gene of interest is to efficiently infuse larger cells without activating an immune response against ourselves. “The immune system has developed means of detecting and killing the cells that harbors the invaders. All these stratagems are programmed into the genes of human ce...