Tailored nanostructures for drug delivery and early cancer detection (Keynote Speech)

Abstract

The Bossmann group at the University of Kansas Medical Center is developing new nanotechnology to address key problems in cancer treatment. 1) With regard to drug delivery, we have developed poly(beta-amino ester)-based nanoparticles that use peptide signaling sequences to circumvent the reticuloendothelial system and to deliver their payload (small molecule drugs or mRNA) with precision to the sites of tumors and metastases. 2) To facilitate early detection of solid tumors, we have developed nanoparticle-based nanobiosensors for protease activities in serum since 2007. Recently, we have adapted a few-layer graphene as core nanostructure. This permits the design of long-term stable nanobiosensors capable of detecting pancreatic, lung, and ovarian cancer with very high precision at stage 1. The lower the cancer stage, the better are current treatment modalities.