• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Electrical Engineering News and Products

Electronics Engineering Resources, Articles, Forums, Tear Down Videos and Technical Electronics How-To's

  • Products / Components
    • Analog ICs
    • Battery Power
    • Connectors
    • Microcontrollers
    • Power Electronics
    • Sensors
    • Test and Measurement
    • Wire / Cable
  • Applications
    • 5G
    • Automotive/Transportation
    • EV Engineering
    • Industrial
    • IoT
    • Medical
    • Telecommunications
    • Wearables
    • Wireless
  • Learn
    • eBooks / Handbooks
    • EE Training Days
    • Tutorials
    • Learning Center
    • Tech Toolboxes
    • Webinars & Digital Events
  • Resources
    • White Papers
    • Educational Assets
    • Design Guide Library
    • Digital Issues
    • Engineering Diversity & Inclusion
    • LEAP Awards
    • Podcasts
    • DesignFast
  • Videos
    • EE Videos and Interviews
    • Teardown Videos
  • EE Forums
    • EDABoard.com
    • Electro-Tech-Online.com
  • Bill’s Blogs
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

Nanoparticles cut off ‘addicted’ tumors from source of their survival

May 28, 2012 By Yale UniversityYale University

Yale biologists and engineers have designed drug-loaded nanoparticles that target the soft underbelly of many types of cancer — a tiny gene product that tumors depend upon to replicate and survive.

The novel therapy successfully stopped lymphoma in mice when injected directly into tumors, the researchers report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, published the week of May 28.

The interdisciplinary collaboration takes advantage of a new concept in cancer research — that tumors become “addicted” to a few genetic abnormalities they need to survive, grow, and spread throughout the body.

“Thousands of genes are mis-expressed in cancer, but so far cancer researchers have only found 10 or so that cancer cells absolutely need to survive,” said Frank Slack, professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology, director of the Cancer Genetics and Genomics Program for the Yale Cancer Center, and senior author of the study.

Slack’s lab studies microRNAs, or small pieces of genetic material that determine when and where much larger genes that code for proteins are used. One of these miRNAs, miR-155, helps regulate cell survival and is overactive in many forms of cancer. For instance, mice with excessive amounts of miR-155 develop lymphoma tumors.

One of Slack’s graduate students collaborated with a student working in the lab of Mark Saltzman, the Goizueta Foundation Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering and Yale Cancer Center researcher, about ways to use nanoparticles to help block actions of miR-155 in mice with lymphoma. The team discovered that injecting nanoparticles that deliver a compound that specifically targets miR-155 into tumors stopped them from growing in mice.

Slack pointed out that miR-155 is also overactive in lung cancer and many other treatment-resistant forms of the disease.

“At this point, we want to improve the technique so we can load even more of this compound into the nanoparticles and make it easier for them to enter tumor cells,” Slack said. “Ultimately, we would like to take this to human clinical trials for difficult-to-treat cancers.”

Imran A. Babar and Christopher J. Cheng were co-lead authors of the paper. Other Yale authors are Carmen J. Booth, Xianping Liang, and Joanne B. Weidhaas.

The research was funded by James S. McDonnell Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

You Might Also Like

Filed Under: Robotics/Drones

Primary Sidebar

EE Engineering Training Days

engineering

Featured Contributions

Integrating MEMS technology into next-gen vehicle safety features

Five challenges for developing next-generation ADAS and autonomous vehicles

Robust design for Variable Frequency Drives and starters

Meeting demand for hidden wearables via Schottky rectifiers

GaN reliability milestones break through the silicon ceiling

More Featured Contributions

EE Tech Toolbox

“ee
Tech Toolbox: 5G Technology
This Tech Toolbox covers the basics of 5G technology plus a story about how engineers designed and built a prototype DSL router mostly from old cellphone parts. Download this first 5G/wired/wireless communications Tech Toolbox to learn more!

EE Learning Center

EE Learning Center
“ee
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, tools and strategies for EE professionals.
“bills
contribute

R&D World Podcasts

R&D 100 Episode 10
See More >

Sponsored Content

Designing for Serviceability: The Role of Interconnects in HVAC Maintenance

From Control Boards to Comfort: How Signal Integrity Drives HVAC Innovation

Built to Withstand: Sealing and Thermal Protection in HVAC Sub-Systems

Revolutionizing Manufacturing with Smart Factories

Smarter HVAC Starts at the Sub-System Level

Empowering aerospace E/E design and innovation through Siemens Xcelerator and Capital in the Cloud

More Sponsored Content >>

RSS Current EDABoard.com discussions

  • connector model question
  • Sendust vs Ferrite for SMPS
  • sim7090g
  • Innovus Scan Reorder deletes Scan In Pad
  • The GaN revolution must now happen?

RSS Current Electro-Tech-Online.com Discussions

  • It's Amazing What A Buck And A Quarter....
  • Microinverters and storeage batteries?
  • ac current limiting
  • More fun with ws2812 this time XC8 and CLC
  • Impact of Tariffs on PCB Fab
Search Millions of Parts from Thousands of Suppliers.

Search Now!
design fast globle

Footer

EE World Online

EE WORLD ONLINE NETWORK

  • 5G Technology World
  • Analog IC Tips
  • Battery Power Tips
  • Connector Tips
  • DesignFast
  • EDABoard Forums
  • Electro-Tech-Online Forums
  • Engineer's Garage
  • EV Engineering
  • Microcontroller Tips
  • Power Electronic Tips
  • Sensor Tips
  • Test and Measurement Tips

EE WORLD ONLINE

  • Subscribe to our newsletter
  • Teardown Videos
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us
  • About Us

Copyright © 2025 · WTWH Media LLC and its licensors. All rights reserved.
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media.

Privacy Policy