Pursuing a cancer cure
Spurred by liquid crystal pharmaceuticals’ early promise, researchers aim to find more gems in Kent State’s vast inventory
| | Chun-che Tsai, a Kent State professor of chemistry, loads samples into an analyzer at his Summa Health System laboratory in Akron. Dr. Tsai and other area researchers are studying the pharmacological uses of liquid crystals.
Photo credit: JEFF GLIDDEN/KENT STATE UNIVERSITY | | | |
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By
CHUCK SODER
4:30 am, January 26, 2009
Chun-che Tsai hopes that one day, LCPs will be as common as LCDs.
The Kent State University chemistry professor is one of a few Northeast Ohio researchers trying to tap Kent State’s vast knowledge of liquid crystals — the molecules behind the screens of computers, televisions and cell phones worldwide — to fuel the development of liquid crystal pharmaceuticals, or LCPs.
Local researchers have patented multiple new cancer drugs made from liquid crystals, with two drugs in particular showing encouraging results in early tests. Because liquid crystals already control several key functions within human cells, researchers believe drugs made from similar molecules could have a big impact on patients’ lives, as well as Northeast Ohio’s economy. “That’s why we are so excited,” Dr. Tsai said.
Of the two cancer drugs in the works, Apatone, a combination of vitamins C and K3, is the furthest along. An oral version of the drug, designed to weaken tumor cells prior to chemotherapy, already has been tested in humans during clinical trials within Summa Health System in Akron and at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich.
Summa research scientist Jim Jamison, one of several researchers listed on the Apatone patent, noted that more testing is needed because the researchers eventually want to administer the drug by IV and simultaneously with chemotherapy.
The second drug, Tolecine, has been applied to animals topically and will be administered to animals via IV in a few weeks, Dr. Jamison said.
Unlike Apatone, which first was tested by researchers in Belgium who later worked with scientists in Northeast Ohio, Tolecine was culled from Kent State’s database of 100,000 or so liquid crystal molecules.
Dr. Tsai, who patented the drug, found Tolecine by combing through the database looking for molecules that would mimic resveratrol, a molecule in peanuts and grapes that some researchers say helps prevent and fight cancer. He is exploring other possible uses for the drug, too.
The group of researchers — which also includes individuals from the University of Akron and the Northeast Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy in Rootstown — aims to find more Tolecines in Kent State’s database.
“You can see the potential,” Dr. Tsai said. “It’s a frontier.”
They have a dream ...
There are other drugs on the market made from liquid crystals, such as the cancer drug Taxol, Dr. Jamison said. However, the researchers believe liquid crystal drugs have more untapped potential, given their ability to interact with liquid crystal molecules in cells. Cholesterols, proteins and a membrane that surrounds human cells are all liquid crystals, Dr. Jamison said.
Though he noted that the local drug development effort likely would eventually require assistance from major drug companies, Dr. Jamison said he wants the discoveries of the group to be commercialized here in the region.
“Our dream is to keep that technology in Ohio,” he said.
The rights to commercialize the first two drugs have been licensed to IC-MedTech Inc. of San Diego, but that doesn’t mean the technology will be commercialized there.
IC-MedTech CEO Tom Miller is a Northeast Ohio native, and he regularly works with Northeast Ohio researchers. He is raising money on the West Coast to further the development of the drugs.