Taking inspiration from nature, chemists have developed a new method to destroy bone cancer cells that utilizes artificial extracellular matrices.


Because extracellular matrices provide support and structure to the cells making up many organs and tissues, their artificial production has been very appealing to tissue engineers. Scientists searching for a method to produce them in the lab have mainly focused on self-assembling peptides.


Cancer cells before (left) and after (right) 7 hours of exposure to self-assembling
carbohydrate molecules.
Credit: J. Am. Chem. Soc.
In order to exploit one of the common features of bone cancer cells, Bing Xu of Brandeis University designed such a peptide with one important modification; it is only capable of self-assembly upon removal of a phosphate group. Once it’s gone, the molecules have a hydrophobic and a hydrophilic end, allowing them to aggregate into films like the lipids that form membranes in the body.

This property made them perfect for targeted destruction of certain types of cancer cells, which produce alkaline phosphatase, an enzyme that removes phosphate, in far greater quantities than healthy cells do.

Another researcher, Rein V. Ulijn of the City University of New York’s Hunter College, took it a step further. Because carbohydrates can produce such a rich diversity of structures, he endeavored to use them in a similar way. 


To create a carbohydrate molecule that would self-aggregate, he attached a hydrophilic glucosamine to a hydrophobic aromatic. Then he added a phosphate group that would interfere with the molecules’ mutual attraction to its peers, thereby postponing the formation of a film until the group was cleaved off, hopefully, near a phosphatase-rich cancer cell.



Subsequent tests investigating the effectiveness of the substance against cancer cells yielded optimistic results. The chemical killed 95% of cultured bone cancer cells, while only 15% of healthy control cells perished after 7 hours of exposure. 


Written by: Aisling Williams

Source

Berg, Erika G. "Self-Assembling Carbohydrates Trap Cancer Cells In A Cage." Chemical & Engineering News (2015): n. pag. 20 Jan. 2015. Web. 27 Jan. 2015.