RNA-packed hydrogel treats cancer in mice

Abstract

A therapeutic hydrogel that can be injected or sprayed onto large surfaces could be an effective tool in fighting cancers that grow on organ surfaces and the linings of body cavities ( Nat. Nanotechnol . 2021, DOI: 10.1038/s41565-021-00961-w ). Cancers like mesothelioma are hard for surgeons to remove completely. “You always leave residual cancer behind, so there is always a recurrence,” says Joel P. Schneider, an organic chemist and deputy director of the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute. A therapy applied to tissue during removal surgery to combat that residual cancer “could be a game changer,” he says. Schneider, thoracic surgical oncologist Chuong D. Hoang, and their colleagues based their therapy on microRNA (miRNA), small bits of ribonucleic acids that regulate protein formation. These sequences can suppress the production of cancer proteins. The challenge has been delivering miRNA. Its strong negative charge keeps it from getting