A recent study has suggested that Nano-sized cells present in our body that are responsible for transferring genetic material to other cells may turn into mini transporter to kill the cancer cell, suggests a study from Michigan State University and Stanford University.The study published in the journal, 'Molecular Cancer Therapeutics' focused on breast cancer cells in mice."What we've done is improve a therapeutic approach to delivering enzyme-producing genes that can convert certain drugs into toxic agents and target tumours," said Masamitsu Kanada, lead author and an assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology in MSU's Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering.These drugs, or pro-drugs, start out as inactive compounds. But once they metabolise in the body, they're immediately activated and can get to work on fighting everything from cancer to headaches. Aspirin is an example of a common pro-drug.In this case, researchers used extracellular vesicles, or EVs, to
