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Authors: Akshat Agrawal
Tags: Indian Innovators
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route. “Similar efforts have been attempted by several other research groups across the world, such as one at Rutgers University, where scientists synthesized inhalable silica nanoparticles. However, none of the nanoparticles synthesized so far have been commercialized, as serious problems have been found with each of them.
“Silica or polymer-based nanoparticles have been observed to induce a strong immune response, as they are alien substances for the body. In many cases, they even have very toxic side-effects. Most of them cause severe respiratory disorders, such as Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, which leave the patients gasping for breath. These foreign nanoparticles destroy pulmonary surfactants in the lungs, making it difficult for the lungs to contract.
Thus, our focus was to develop nanoparticles that are very similar to the naturally occurring pulmonary surfactants.”
Nitin shares more details about his research. “After exhausting several possibilities, we tried to synthesize the nanoparticles to carry drugs by using the lipids that exist naturally in our body. Each of these nanoparticles had the shape of the number ‘8’. Thus, it had two compartments, one for each drug and a diameter of about 100 nanometers.
While engineering the nanoparticle, the shape and size were as important as the material. If not engineered with the right aerodynamics, the nanoparticles could get exhaled or may not go inside the nostrils at all when inhaled.
The combination of cancer drugs that we used – Paclitaxel along with Curcumin – was an unconventional choice. In fact, my guide was initially not too happy with the choice of drugs. Paclitaxel is one of the most popular and potent anti-cancer drugs. Curcumin, on the other hand, is a naturally occurring phenol in turmeric, which is responsible for its yellow color. Several medicinal properties of turmeric have been known to Indians for ages and it is used extensively in traditional Indian medicine. Unfortunately, the results have not been documented anywhere. Many foreign researchers are now trying to document the medicinal properties of Indian herbs. It’s a pity that Indian researchers are yet to focus on their traditional knowledge.
My guide was of the view that pharmaceutical companies would not be interested in a product where the molecule employed is not widely accepted as a drug.
However, through my research, I had identified that Curcumin had excellent anti-cancer properties, and when used in combination with Paclitaxel, it increased the drug’s efficacy and suppressed its negative side effects.
I was thus able to convince her to try this combination. When we conducted trials much later, we discovered that the combination resulted in reducing the Paclitaxel dosage by 300 times.”
Another goal of the research was to ensure targeted delivery of the drug to only the cancer cells, so that healthy cells were not destroyed along with the cancer cells. Other researchers in the area have attempted several ways to achieve this, including engineering the delivery nanoparticle according to the shape and size of the blood vessel that delivers blood to the cancerous cells. Nitin’s approach was very different.
“It has been studied that the pH of cancer cells is 5-6, unlike that of healthy cells, which is around 7.4. Also, certain enzymes are found only in cancer cells. We used this information to design our drug delivery mechanism such that it released the drug only when the enzyme and pH conditions are met, ensuring that the drug is delivered only to the cancer cells. As a result, lower dosage of the drug is required to treat the cancer (thus reducing treatment costs) and the debilitating effects of chemotherapy are avoided.”
The next challenge was to incorporate controlled drug release. It was very important that the two drugs not be released simultaneously, but one after another, with a time difference of a few
“Silica or polymer-based nanoparticles have been observed to induce a strong immune response, as they are alien substances for the body. In many cases, they even have very toxic side-effects. Most of them cause severe respiratory disorders, such as Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, which leave the patients gasping for breath. These foreign nanoparticles destroy pulmonary surfactants in the lungs, making it difficult for the lungs to contract.
Thus, our focus was to develop nanoparticles that are very similar to the naturally occurring pulmonary surfactants.”
Nitin shares more details about his research. “After exhausting several possibilities, we tried to synthesize the nanoparticles to carry drugs by using the lipids that exist naturally in our body. Each of these nanoparticles had the shape of the number ‘8’. Thus, it had two compartments, one for each drug and a diameter of about 100 nanometers.
While engineering the nanoparticle, the shape and size were as important as the material. If not engineered with the right aerodynamics, the nanoparticles could get exhaled or may not go inside the nostrils at all when inhaled.
The combination of cancer drugs that we used – Paclitaxel along with Curcumin – was an unconventional choice. In fact, my guide was initially not too happy with the choice of drugs. Paclitaxel is one of the most popular and potent anti-cancer drugs. Curcumin, on the other hand, is a naturally occurring phenol in turmeric, which is responsible for its yellow color. Several medicinal properties of turmeric have been known to Indians for ages and it is used extensively in traditional Indian medicine. Unfortunately, the results have not been documented anywhere. Many foreign researchers are now trying to document the medicinal properties of Indian herbs. It’s a pity that Indian researchers are yet to focus on their traditional knowledge.
My guide was of the view that pharmaceutical companies would not be interested in a product where the molecule employed is not widely accepted as a drug.
However, through my research, I had identified that Curcumin had excellent anti-cancer properties, and when used in combination with Paclitaxel, it increased the drug’s efficacy and suppressed its negative side effects.
I was thus able to convince her to try this combination. When we conducted trials much later, we discovered that the combination resulted in reducing the Paclitaxel dosage by 300 times.”
Another goal of the research was to ensure targeted delivery of the drug to only the cancer cells, so that healthy cells were not destroyed along with the cancer cells. Other researchers in the area have attempted several ways to achieve this, including engineering the delivery nanoparticle according to the shape and size of the blood vessel that delivers blood to the cancerous cells. Nitin’s approach was very different.
“It has been studied that the pH of cancer cells is 5-6, unlike that of healthy cells, which is around 7.4. Also, certain enzymes are found only in cancer cells. We used this information to design our drug delivery mechanism such that it released the drug only when the enzyme and pH conditions are met, ensuring that the drug is delivered only to the cancer cells. As a result, lower dosage of the drug is required to treat the cancer (thus reducing treatment costs) and the debilitating effects of chemotherapy are avoided.”
The next challenge was to incorporate controlled drug release. It was very important that the two drugs not be released simultaneously, but one after another, with a time difference of a few
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