h a l f b a k e r ySee website for details.
add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random
news, help, about, links, report a problem
browse anonymously,
or get an account
and write.
register,
|
|
|
Please log in.
Before you can vote, you need to register.
Please log in or create an account.
|
There is currently a monoclonal antibody(MAB)-based
therapy on the market called Trastuzumab emtansine. It
works by binding to receptors found on specific breast
cancer cell types; the HER2 receptor. Then, the
receptor and antibody are internalized by the cell, then,
a
few molecules of some
nasty chemotheraputic agent go
to
work, nicely targeted by the MAB system.
I think we can improve upon this, the drugs that they can
attach to the antibody are limited, they pretty much
have
to use stuff that sticks to proteins. This is not as good,
for
example as attaching a lovely active caspase to the
antibody. Caspases are specific proteases which induce
apoptosis, cell suicide. The cool thing about them is that
they have no role outside cells, so when circulating
around
in the blood they'll be totally harmless. When
internalized
into the cells, they will be more effective than small
molecules because the caspase system is adapted to be a
self amplifying cascade. There, a sensible workable
halfbaked cancer idea.
[link]
|
|
The gold rush will be verifying those unique cancer binding sites. |
|
|
Actually, if you can bind a regular over-expression plasmid
of something like a GFP-tagged Caspase 8 using an
intracellilar only esterase/protease linker you would add a
layer of amplification and have a fluorescent reporter. |
|
|
What I've just done there is make a very expensive
replication-deficient virus, as you were. |
|
|
"We've already tried it. Ethyl methane sulfonate is an alkylating agent and a potent mutagen. It created a virus so lethal the subject was dead before he left the table ..." |
|
|
The real gold in this idea is the use of " celuular machinery ". |
|
|
...but you missed //intracellilar//. I didn't want to
point it out, but HB etiquette demands that I raise
the point. |
|
|
Jeez, it's a vowel isn't it? I mean, if it were in a New Zealand
accent it would be: "untracillular". Clearly, as long as you
get a vowel in there, people will just assume you're from a
colony. |
|
| |