DNA Origami in Cancer Drug Delivery

By Will SoutterSep 15 2012

A new study carried out by scientists at the Swedish Karolinska Institutet involves the use of DNA-based nanostructures engineered using a technology known as DNA origami to improve the effect of certain cytostatics employed in cancer treatment.

A commonly used cytostatic or toxin for treatment of cancer is the drug doxorubicin. The usage of the drug is however characterized by undesirable side effects such as severe nausea and myocardial disease. Owing to the adverse side effects, efforts have been taken by scientists to find a technique to deliver the drug directly to the site of the cancerous cells without affecting the healthy cells in the surrounding area. Nanotechnology offers hope for this endeavor. A potential solution is the use of nanoparticles as carriers or projectiles of cancer treating drugs.

The scientists at Karolinska Institutet used DNA origami as a carrier. The technique allows the synthesis of complex nanostructures with surfaces that allow molecules and complex protein patterns to be attached to them. The scientists however slightly modified the double helix structure of the DNA-based material such that the degree of twist was relaxed a little.

Doxorubicin packaged in such an “under twisted” DNA configuration releases slowly at the site of the tumor cells and thereby serve its purpose more effectively even at small dosages. The slower release of the doxorubicin drug is the result of availability of more space for the drug to get attached as a result of the reduced degree of twist to the DNA structure. The use of the DNA origami system has an added advantage of speeding up the development of the targeted protein system.