MSGID: 1:317/3 63f448e8   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Scientists make breakthrough for 'next generation' cancer treatment   
      
      
     Date:   
         February 20, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of East Anglia   
     Summary:   
         Scientists are a step closer to creating a new generation of light-   
         activated cancer treatments. These new treatments would be highly   
         targeted and more effective than current state-of-the-art cancer   
         immunotherapies.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
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   Scientists at the University of East Anglia are a step closer to creating   
   a new generation of light-activated cancer treatments.   
      
      
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   The futuristic sounding treatment would work by switching on LED lights   
   embedded close to a tumour, which would then activate biotherapeutic   
   drugs.   
      
   These new treatments would be highly targeted and more effective than   
   current state-of-the-art cancer immunotherapies.   
      
   New research published today reveals the science behind this innovative   
   idea.   
      
   It shows how the UEA team have engineered antibody fragments -- which   
   not only 'fuse' with their target but are also light activated.   
      
   It means that in future, immunotherapy treatments could be engineered   
   to attack tumours more precisely than ever before.   
      
   The principal scientist for this study, Dr Amit Sachdeva, from UEA's   
   School of Chemistry, said: "Current cancer treatments like chemotherapy   
   kill cancer cells, but they can also damage healthy cells in your body   
   such as blood and skin cells.   
      
   "This means that they can cause side effects including hair loss, feeling   
   tired and sick, and they also put patients at increased risk of picking   
   up infections.   
      
   "There has therefore been a very big drive to create new treatments that   
   are more targeted and don't have these unwanted side-effects.   
      
   "Several antibodies and antibody fragments have already been developed to   
   treat cancer. These antibodies are much more selective than the cytotoxic   
   drugs used in chemotherapy, but they can still cause severe side effects,   
   as antibody targets are also present on healthy cells."  Now, the UEA   
   team has engineered one of the first antibody fragments that binds to,   
   and forms a covalent bond with, its target -- upon irradiation with UV   
   light of a specific wavelength.   
      
   Dr Sachdeva said: "A covalent bond is a bit like melting two pieces of   
   plastic and fusing them together. It means that drug molecules could   
   for example be permanently fixed to a tumour.   
      
   "We hope that our work will lead to the development of a new class of   
   highly targeted light-responsive biotherapeutics. This would mean that   
   antibodies could be activated at the site of a tumour and covalently   
   stick to their target upon light activation.   
      
   "In other words, you could activate antibodies to attack tumour cells   
   by shining light - either directly on to the skin, in the case of skin   
   cancer, or using small LED lights that could be implanted at the site   
   of a tumour inside the body.   
      
   "This would allow cancer treatment to be more efficient and targeted   
   because it means that only molecules in the vicinity of the tumour would   
   be activated, and it wouldn't affect other cells.   
      
   "This would potentially reduce side effects for patients, and also improve   
   antibody residence time in the body."  "It would work for cancers like   
   skin cancer, or where there is a solid tumour - but not for blood cancers   
   like leukaemia.   
      
   "Development of these antibody fragments would not have been possible   
   without pioneering work from several other research groups across the   
   globe who developed and optimised methods for site-specific incorporation   
   of non-natural amino acids into proteins expressed in live cells.   
      
   "We employed some of these methods to site-specifically install unique   
   light- sensitive amino acids into antibody fragments."  If the researchers   
   are successful in the next stages of their work, they hope to see the   
   'next generation' light-activated immunotherapies being used to treat   
   cancer patients within five to 10 years.   
      
   This research was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences   
   Research Council (BBSRC) and the Wellcome Trust. It was led by the   
   University of East Anglia with assistance from the proteomics facility   
   at the John Innes Centre.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Health_&_Medicine   
                   # Colon_Cancer # Lung_Cancer # Leukemia # Cancer #   
                   Breast_Cancer # Skin_Cancer # Brain_Tumor # Lymphoma   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Stem_cell_treatments o Breast_cancer o Cancer o   
             Cervical_cancer o Colorectal_cancer o Prostate_cancer o   
             Ultraviolet o Ovarian_cancer   
      
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   Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_East_Anglia. Note:   
   Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Thomas Bridge, Udo Wegmann, Jason C. Crack, Kate Orman, Saher   
      A. Shaikh,   
         William Farndon, Carlo Martins, Gerhard Saalbach, Amit   
         Sachdeva. Site- specific encoding of photoactivity and   
         photoreactivity into antibody fragments. Nature Chemical Biology,   
         2023; DOI: 10.1038/s41589-022-01251-9   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230220131902.htm   
      
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