Commonly applied Chemotherapy for instance also harms healthy tissues.
Modern therapies strive to target tumors directly, minimizing harm to healthy tissues. However, identifying targets that are unique to cancer cells and not found in healthy cells is a major challenge.
Recent research reveals that tumors harbor their own unique communities of microbes – a distinct microbiome [1]. Especially Fusobacterium nucleatum provides a specific target for our precision therapy [2].
We've engineered a powerful weapon that consists of two key parts. First, an affinity protein acts like a homing device, specifically binding to Fusobacterium nucleatum within the tumor. Second, a linked enzyme converts a harmless prodrug into a toxic compound only at the tumor site, destroying cancer cells while minimizing side effects.
Introducing our microfluidic chip for rapid cancer treatment testing in developing countries. This microscope slide-sized chip tests chemotherapeutic agents on tumor tissues to identify the most effective treatment, enabling quick and personalized cancer therapy.
Weak efficacy of the tested cytostatic.
Strong efficacy of the tested cytostatic.
The chip uses a Resazurin assay to test chemotherapeutic effectiveness. In the control chamber, Resazurin dye turns pink with living cells. In the test chamber, adding Resazurin and a drug results in blue dye if cells die. Dye intensity indicates the number of living cells,determining the drug's effectiveness.
To further commercialize synthetic biology, we aim to make chip measurement and analysis as affordable as possible.
We designed a measurement unit consisting of a 3D-printed black box with colorimetric sensors.
[1] Nejman, D., Livyatan, I., Fuks, G., Gavert, N., Zwang, Y., Geller, L. T., . . . Straussman, R. (2020). The human tumor microbiome is composed of tumor type-specific intracellular bacteria. Science, 368(6494), 973-980. doi:10.1126/science.aay9189
[2] Castellarin, M., Warren, R. L., Freeman, J. D., Dreolini, L., Krzywinski, M., Strauss, J., . . . Holt, R. A. (2012). Fusobacterium nucleatum infection is prevalent in human colorectal carcinoma. Genome Res, 22(2), 299-306. doi:10.1101/gr.126516.111
