Novel nanoparticle carrier targets cells using DNA ‘keys’ for drug delivery

A team of researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM; Bavaria, Germany) and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm, Sweden) has developed a stable nanocarrier for medications, which they hope will mitigate the unwanted side effects of therapeutics, particularly cytotoxic drugs. The research, published in ACS Nano, presents a novel mucin-based carrier that releases its therapeutic payload when activated by DNA triggers in target cells. A frequently encountered obstacle for therapeutic regimes is the resulting deleterious effects, which can severely impact patients. Cytotoxic treatments such as chemotherapeutics for cancer need to appropriately target ‘sick’ cells in order to...