Preclinical Development of Natural Product-Based Agents as Anti-Cancer Drugs

癌症转移（癌细胞从一个器官或组织扩散到另一个器官或组织）最终是癌症患者死亡的原因。 90%的癌症患者因此，对能够干扰这一过程的药物的需求是巨大的。为 肌动蛋白细胞骨架是负责癌细胞形态变化的关键细胞机制， 转移的能力，我们的研究项目将开发新的化疗药物，以击败肌动蛋白的贡献， 癌症的扩散利用我们对肌动蛋白的有效天然抑制剂的详细了解，我们将设计和合成癌症 通过将这些抑制剂与癌症导向抗体结合来靶向它们。这些抗体-药物缀合物（ADC） 将通过允许肌动蛋白抑制组分被肿瘤细胞吸收而使治疗剂的癌症杀伤潜力最大化。 在癌细胞有机会形成继发性肿瘤之前，这样做，这些代理人将减少 许多与癌症化疗相关的常见副作用，并将减少癌症负担和死亡率， 加拿大人。

Cancer metastases (the spreading of cancer cells from one organ or tissue to another) are ultimately the cause of death in 90 percent of cancer patients. Therefore, the need for drugs capable of interfering with this process is enormous. As the actin cytoskeleton is the key cellular machinery responsible for the morphological changes in cancer cells that facilitate their ability to metastasize, our research project will develop new chemotherapeutic agents to defeat the contribution of actin to the spread of cancer. Using our detailed knowledge of potent natural inhibitors of actin, we will design and synthesize cancer targeting versions of these inhibitors by joining them to cancer-seeking antibodies. These antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) will maximize the cancer killing potential of the therapeutic by allowing the actin-inhibiting component to be taken up by the cancer cells with precision, before they have a chance to form secondary tumours. In doing so, these agents will reduce many of the common side-effects associated with cancer chemotherapies, and will diminish cancer burden and mortality for Canadians.