Light-induced gene therapy disables cancer cells’ energy center

Scientists from The Ohio State University have combined strategies to deliver energy-disrupting gene therapy against cancer by using nanoparticles. Experiments showed the targeted therapy is effective at shrinking glioblastoma brain tumors and aggressive breast cancer tumors in mice. The approach consists of breaking up structures inside these cellular energy centers, called mitochondria, with a technique that induces light-activated electrical currents inside the cells. "Previous attempts to use a pharmaceutical reagent against mitochondria targeted specific pathways of activity in cancer cells," said Lufang Zhou, one of the scientists involved in this study. "Our approach targets mitochondria directly, using external genes to activate a process that kills cells.”