A new study shows that an amino acid found in chicken feathers and skin tissue could help limit the side effects of chemotherapy.
- An amino acid found in chicken feathers could hold the key to limiting the side effects of chemotherapy.
- The researchers created a cage capable of transporting the drug to the tumor.
- The amino acid may also help repair faulty enzymes.
While chemotherapy attacks and destroys cancer cells, the treatment has many side effects. Chicken feathers and skin tissue could help limit them, according to work by King’s College London researchers published in the journal Chem May 29, 2024.
Cancer: A drug cage created with an amino acid
Researchers have developed a new delivery method for chemotherapy drugs. It is based on an amino acid found in chicken feathers: proline. With this molecule, which is part of the composition of proteins, the team has managed to build a nanometric “cage”. The latter can contain the anti-cancer treatment and transport it in the body to the malignant tumor. This more precise targeting would protect healthy cells and reduce the harmful effects of the treatment, according to the authors.
Cages that could administer medication had already been created. However, they were based on hydrocarbon molecules present in tar. However, they are likely to be toxic to humans. Proline offers a major advantage over them: it is soluble in water.“Which makes it particularly suitable for drug delivery, as water makes up about 60% of the human body.”the scientists specify in their communicated.
They also suggest that by linking the peptide to small amounts of metals such as palladium, the size of the “structure” can be adjusted. This could make it suitable for chemotherapy drugs, but also potentially for antibiotics and antivirals.
Feather proline may also help repair enzymes
For the researchers who worked on the study, this proline-based structure could also allow the replacement of defective enzymes in the body. “Historically, enzymes, which are made of proteins and perform important functions in the body, could only have their activities blocked by drugs. Blocking this functionality would then have an impact in the body, such as reducing inflammation. Now, the cages could replace this function, which could open the way to a new form of treatment.”they note in their press release.
Dr Charlie McTernan, lead author, adds: “What we’ve created is essentially a biologically compatible molecular tea bag. We can fill this ‘tea bag’ made from widely available proline and collagen with several different drugs and deliver them in a much more targeted way than before.“.
They hope the discovery will help limit hair loss, nausea and other unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy and allow “to repair defective enzymes that influence the development of cancer.”