TINY sponges may be the key to antisense therapy.
Small sections of DNA known as antisense oligonucleotides can be used to
tackle a wide range of disorders, because they bind to RNA and block the
production of specific proteins. But the challenge is getting oligonucleotides
into cells鈥攖hey can be degraded in the bloodstream, for example. So
Patrick Couvreur and his colleagues at the University of Paris are soaking them
up into protective 鈥渘anosponges鈥� made of a sugary gel called alginate.
When injected into mice, the sponges delivered concentrations of
oligonucleotides to cells that were up to 30 times higher than otherwise. And,
Couvreur told a meeting of the Controlled Release Society in Paris this week,
preliminary studies suggest that the antisense molecules can be targeted at
tumours.
Advertisement