Translated material
Nanocontainers in the fight against influenza
According to the World Health Organization, from 250 to 500 thousand people dies from influenza. Due to the fact that this virus quickly mutates and becomes resistant to drugs, it is very difficult to develop an effective vaccine against it. In Russia, scientists from the Research Institute of influenza in St. Petersburg are trying to solve this problem.
They created a special antivirus RNA against pork flu (H1N1). It joins a certain area of the virus and does not allow it to multiply and continue to infect the body.
But how to deliver this medicine to the body? In order for the molecule to get into the desired cage and at the same time retain its properties, it must be packaged in a special capsule. Especially for antivirus RNA, it was developed by scientists from the laboratory of new dosage forms on the basis of the Tomsk Polytechnic University. The results of the joint work were described in the journal Scientific Reports on March 7, 2017.
About the details of the development of the TRV-hobby was told by the leading author of the article, Cand. chem. sciences, ml. scientific. sore. Laboratory Alexander Timin .
- What does your laboratory do?
- We are engaged in the target delivery of biologically active molecules to cells. So we can influence their behavior and change their functions. And this increases the therapeutic effect of drugs. We are developing multifunctional nanocontainers. In them, we include a biologically active substance we need. These capsules can be magnetically controlled - to deliver the substance to the place we need using a magnet. Then, under the influence of various physical or chemical influences - ultrasound, light, heat - we can release the drug. Or the substances inside the cell themselves destroy the carrier.
- What diseases can be treated with nanocontainers?
- We can already treat acute leukemia, various types of cancer. We meet with doctors, find out what problem you need to solve, and select the carrier for their practical needs. We are closely cooperating with doctors from the Institute of Pediatric Hematology and Transplantology named after Raisa Gorbacheva.
-Why was the new nanocontainer developed precisely against pork flu, and not some other?
- At the Research Institute of influenza, antiviral RNA could not deliver inside the cell, which block the reproduction of this virus. We tried our carrier and got good enough results. As for pork flu, today it is a very common virus. In addition, the new nanocontainers are universal. We showed that they work against the pork flu virus, but in fact we can transfer several biologically active substances in them that will act against different types of influenza virus.
- How will the nanocontainer find a cage with a virus?
- We assume that nanocontainers will enter the body through the nose as part of the spray. A person will breathe it, carriers will be distributed in the nasal sinuses, and there the necessary cells will capture them. But the capture problem has not yet been solved. Now we are working on this. We can apply special receptors to containers that will be recognized by sick cells. However, giving selectivity to the drug is a more subtle technology that requires large costs: both material and human forces. We will further develop this idea together with investors.
- Nanocontainers for drug delivery are already used in medicine. And what is the uniqueness of your carriers?
-For new containers, we used the SPXIAL ash-gel technology, which allows you to apply a thin layer of inorganic material to the capsule surface, in this case, silica. Conventional containers are similar to a blown football, and after applying such a layer they are already similar to a ball. This technology makes it possible to encapsulate (conclusions in the shell. - I.V. ) very small molecules and in large quantities. We can use less capsules, and they will deliver the medicine more effectively.
E Xperiments show that due to the new method, the amount of virus in the cell is reduced by more than 80%. Tomsk scientists demonstrated on models how it works. However, before the drug reaches the end consumer, it must pass several stages of clinical tests.
At the next stage, testing on living organisms - the process of influenza and investors should connect to the case. The Russian venture fund (RVC) has already drew attention to multifunctional nanocontainers. Now employees of the Tomsk Laboratory are working together with scientists from the University of Hamburg-Weppendorf (Germany) over the delivery of the genome editing system to the cells. Note that the Tomsk laboratory is led by a professor at the University of London, Queen Maria (Great Britain) Gleb Sukhorukov. The work of the laboratory is financed by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and the RASA Center-Russian-Speaking Academic Science Association-the International Association of Russian-speaking scientists.
In addition to the University of London, Queen Maria and the Research Institute of Influenza of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, specialists from the First St. Petersburg State Medical University named after Academician I.P. Pavlov.
Alexander Timin
Talked by Inna Sparrow, scientific journalist
1. Nature.com/articles/s41598-017-00200-0?wt.feed_name=subjects_molecular-biology