Targeting Nanomaterials to Head and Neck Cancer Cells Using a Fragment of the Shiga Toxin as a Potent Natural Ligand.

ABSTRACT: Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) is the seventh most common cancer worldwide with a 5-year survival from diagnosis of 50%. Currently, HNC is diagnosed by a physical examination followed by an histological biopsy, with surgery being the primary treatment. Here, we propose the use of targeted nanotechnology in support of existing diagnostic and therapeutic tools to prevent recurrences of tumors with poorly defined or surgically inaccessible margins. We have designed an innocuous ligand-protein, based on the receptor-binding domain of the Shiga toxin (ShTxB), that specifically drives nanoparticles to HNC cells bearing the globotriaosylceramide receptor on their surfaces. Microscopy images show how, upon binding to the receptor, the ShTxB-coated nanoparticles cause the clustering of the globotriaosy

SUBMITTER: Navarro-Palomares E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8507991 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature