Cancer "Mouse Trap": New Device Captures and Kills Circulating Tumor Cells

[Rich66]

	Messages from Sara Hartley Medical Writer, MDLinx Oncology
Cancer "Mouse Trap": New Device Captures and Kills Circulating Tumor Cells 2/9/2009
A team of biomedical engineers from Cornell University designed and built a prototype capillary flow chamber consisting of a specialized coiled tube coated with two human proteins. One protein, called selectin, is a glycoprotein adhesion molecule normally expressed on activated endothelial cells, which attracts and causes cancer cells to temporarily stick to the wall of the tube. The second protein, called TRAIL (tumor necrosis factor apoptosis-inducing ligand), triggers apoptosis by binding to death receptors specifically expressed on a variety of cancer cells and activating intracellular caspases to digest the cell from within. This “one-two punch” strategy proved highly successful in the laboratory, where a single pass through the tube killed one-third of leukemic, colorectal cancer, and prostate adenocarcinoma cells in solution. In contrast, normal hematopoietic stem cells and other blood cells were unaffected by passage through the tube. The researchers’ goal is to develop a protein-lined shunt to implant in a cancer patient’s arm that will capture and kill metastatic tumor cells from the peripheral circulation without damaging healthy cells. These findings suggest that the delivery of such a device may not be so far-fetched. For more information: Rana K, Liesveld JL, King MR. Delivery of apoptotic signal to rolling cancer cells: A novel biomimetic technique using immobilized TRAIL and E-selectin. Biotechnol Bioeng. 2008;DOI 10.1002/bit.22204 [Epub ahead of print].

[eric]

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