Photoactivated metallodrugs: lighting the way to novel therapies

据估计，超过三分之一的人会在有生之年患上癌症，四分之一的人会死于癌症。科学家在抗击这种疾病方面发挥了重要作用。世界范围内的活动范围从了解癌症病因的基础研究到这项提议的主题，即开发新的抗癌治疗方法。这项研究涉及以金属原子为重要成分(金属药物)的新药的研究，这些新药只有在光照射(光激活)时才对癌细胞产生毒性。光敏药物和激光作为光源的组合意味着治疗部位可以被仔细控制，将副作用降至最低，并避免杀死健康细胞。为了优化治疗，这项研究还将开发新的方法，使用带有光纤传输的现代激光照射癌细胞，从而允许照射身体的任何部位。此外，还将研究将药物输送到癌细胞的新方法。将被研究的药物输送方法是使用脂质体，它充当微小的球形容器。它们可以用来储存大量的金属药物，并通过修饰脂质体的表面优先与癌细胞结合。甚至有可能通过激活脂质体中的光敏分子来根据需要打开并释放药物。现代科学总是需要越来越复杂的仪器和技术，癌症研究也不例外。这项建议中描述的研究依赖于最先进的激光系统和先进的显微镜，这些系统和显微镜可以在爱丁堡大学的专业宇宙中心获得。这项研究还将涉及与生物学家和临床医生的密切合作，较长期的观点是在未来5-10年内将这些光激活的金属药物和脂质体输送系统投入临床试验。在这方面，这一研究领域处于有利地位，可以从迅速扩张的英国生物技术行业中受益，从而最大限度地发挥开发潜力。

It is estimated that more than one in three of us will develop cancer in our lifetime, and for one in four it will be the cause of death. Scientists play an important role in combating this illness. Worldwide activities range from basic research into understanding the causes of cancer to the subject of this proposal, which is the development of new anticancer treatments.This research is concerned with the study of new drugs that have metal atoms as important constituents (metallodrugs), and which only become toxic to cancer cells upon irradiation of light (photoactivation). The combination of light-sensitive drugs and lasers as light sources means that the site of treatment can be carefully controlled, minimising side effects and avoiding killing healthy cells. To optimise the treatment, this research will also develop new ways to irradiate cancer cells using modern lasers with optical fibre delivery, thereby allowing any part of the body to be irradiated. In addition, new ways to deliver the drugs to the cancer cells will be studied. The drug-delivery method that will be investigated is the use of liposomes, which act as microscopic spherical containers. These can be used to store large amounts of the metallodrug and to preferentially bind to cancer cells by modifying the surface of the liposome. It may even be possible to burst open and release the drugs upon demand by activating light-sensitive molecules in the liposome.Modern science invariably requires increasingly sophisticated instrumentation and technology, and cancer research is no exception. The research described in this proposal is reliant on state of the art laser systems and advanced microscopes, which are available at the specialist COSMIC centre within the University of Edinburgh. This research will also involve close collaboration with biologists and clinicians, and the longer-term view would be for these photoactivated metallodrugs and liposome delivery systems to be in clinical trials in the next 5-10 years. In this respect, this area of research is well positioned to benefit from the rapidly expanding UK biotechnology sector, thereby maximising the potential for exploitation.