Through it, a new therapeutic approach for glioblastoma is developed based on using RNAi technology (more specifically siRNA) to reduce the cellular levels of proteins involved in the survival and proliferation of tumor cells.
The scientific director of the Complementary Plans for Biotechnology Applied to Health of Castilla-La Mancha, Valentín Ceña, travelled to Madeira (Portugal) to participate, between 28 and 30 November in the MADNano 24 congress focused on sharing advances in new nanomaterial technologies applied to human health.
Under the presentation entitled “Efficient transfection of siRNA in glioblastoma cells by dihydropyridine-based nanoparticles”, professor Valentín Ceña presented the progress of the NANO4Glio project framed in the L5 line of action “Development of nanodrugs, biodistribution, toxicity and therapeutic actions in pathology models” of the Complementary Plans.
The main objective of this project is to establish a new therapeutic approach for glioblastoma (GBM) based on the use of RNAi technology (more specifically siRNA) to reduce the cellular levels of proteins involved in the survival and proliferation of tumor cells, making them more susceptible to anticancer drugs and/or radiation.
In his speech, professor Valentín Ceña showed that nanoparticles derived from dihydropyridines are not toxic to neurons and astrocytes, the brain cells that share anatomical space with glioblastoma.
Additionally, this type of nanoparticles showed a high efficiency of siRNA transfection, decreasing the levels of target proteins both in commercial cells and in cells from glioblastoma patients obtained from tumor tissue resected during therapeutic surgery.
The nanoparticles were markedly distributed in the central nervous system, the site where glioblastomas are located, indicating that they are potentially very useful for delivering drugs and siRNA to these tumors with a very poor prognosis.
The use of tumours from patients with GBM and the correlation with the clinical data of these patients increases the relevance of the results obtained in this project and the probability that, in due course, they will reach the clinical setting.
The congress was attended by researchers from various countries including Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Serbia, Czechia, Russia, China, Macau, India and Taiwan.
