This study is in response to the mission of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (Research and development of nano-scale technologies for biomedical imaging) and the National Cancer Institute (cancer theranostics with improved targeting, biocompatibility and imaging contrast capability). A major issue with current cancer therapy is the prevalence of undesired dose-limiting activity upon non-cancerous tissues and organs. This is further compounded by limited ability in monitoring drug delivery, pharmacodynamics and therapeutic response in vivo. To address the urgent need for novel approaches to selectively targeting therapeutics to tumor, we propose to develop and test new, activatable, theranostic (combined therapeutic and diagnostic) nanoparticles that release the potent therapeutic drug azademethylcolchicine after cleavage by specific tumor enzymes (matrix metalloproteinases, MMP-14), thereby leading to selective toxic effects in MMP-14 expressing tumors, but not visceral organs. In addition, the iron oxide core of the nanoparticles can be detected with MR imaging, thereby enabling in vivo drug tracking. Thus, the major goal of our project is to develop novel tumor-enzyme activatable theranostic nanoparticles (TNPs), which exert selective toxic effects in MMP-14 expressing tumors, but not normal organs, and which enable real-time monitoring of drug accumulation and localization at tumors with Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging. Realizing this goal will lead to substantially improved efficacy of cancer therapies, and allow guiding personalized therapy regimens via direct in vivo drug tracking and therapeutic response monitoring with MR imaging. The approach relies on the high prevalence of MMP-14 in a large variety of breast cancers and other cancers, a proven MMP-14 activatable prodrug strategy, and a nanocarrier platform based on FDA-approved superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles. We hypothesize that our TNPs will be converted from a non-toxic to an active therapeutic agent within MMP-14 expressing tumors, releasing the potent therapeutic drug azademethylcolchicine, and inducing a significant antitumor effect, whilst avoiding toxic side effects to normal tissues. In addition, we postulate that the iron oxide nanoparticle moiety will allow real-time monitoring of drug accumulation and localization at tumors with MR imaging. If successful, the proposed novel, multifunctional TNPs hold the potential to substantially improving therapeutic efficacy and monitoring whilst simultaneously reducing dose-limiting toxicities, thereby increasing the therapeutic index. Our investigations could be in principle readily translated to clinical applications, may directly impact clinical decision-making, and ultimately, help to improve and tailor individualized therapeutic options. The proposed concept would have broad applications and could be extended to a variety of other cancer types.

Public Health Relevance

Cancer chemotherapy and radiation lead to toxic side effects such as hair loss, nausea, impaired organ functions and long term disabilities. We propose to develop and test new, activatable 'theranostic' nanoparticles (TNPs) that provide selective tumor eradication without toxic side effects to normal organs. These novel activatable TNPs exert cytotoxic effects only after cleavage by specific enzymes in the tumor tissue (matrix metalloproteinases, MMP-14), but not visceral organs. The TNPs can be tracked non-invasively with MR imaging, thereby allowing to monitor and tailor individualized therapies, which may ultimately improve long term outcomes and reduce long term disabilities. The proposed concept would have broad applications and could be extended to a large variety of different cancer types.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21)
Project #
5R21CA176519-02
Application #
8911282
Study Section
Developmental Therapeutics Study Section (DT)
Program Officer
Tandon, Pushpa
Project Start
2014-09-01
Project End
2016-08-31
Budget Start
2015-09-01
Budget End
2016-08-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2015
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Stanford University
Department
Radiation-Diagnostic/Oncology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
009214214
City
Stanford
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
94304
Mohanty, Suchismita; Chen, Zixin; Li, Kai et al. (2017) A Novel Theranostic Strategy for MMP-14-Expressing Glioblastomas Impacts Survival. Mol Cancer Ther 16:1909-1921
Daldrup-Link, Heike E (2017) Ten Things You Might Not Know about Iron Oxide Nanoparticles. Radiology 284:616-629
Toth, Gerda B; Varallyay, Csanad G; Horvath, Andrea et al. (2017) Current and potential imaging applications of ferumoxytol for magnetic resonance imaging. Kidney Int 92:47-66
Daldrup-Link, Heike E (2017) Rethinking Brain Cancer Therapy: Tumor Enzyme Activatable Theranostic Nanoparticles. Mol Imaging 16:1536012117730950
Zanganeh, Saeid; Hutter, Gregor; Spitler, Ryan et al. (2016) Iron oxide nanoparticles inhibit tumour growth by inducing pro-inflammatory macrophage polarization in tumour tissues. Nat Nanotechnol 11:986-994
Daldrup-Link, Heike E; Mohanty, Suchismita; Ansari, Celina et al. (2016) Alk5 inhibition increases delivery of macromolecular and protein-bound contrast agents to tumors. JCI Insight 1:
Aghighi, Maryam; Golovko, Daniel; Ansari, Celina et al. (2015) Imaging Tumor Necrosis with Ferumoxytol. PLoS One 10:e0142665