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A major challenges faced by oncologists treating brain cancers such as the deadly glioblastoma is transporting agents across the blood-brain barrier to sites within the brain.   The barrier protects delicate brain tissues from toxins and pathogens, but it also interferes with life-saving medical therapy. 

Now neurosurgeons at Washington University-St. Louis and Northwestern Uniiversity have developed nose drops that transport nanomedical agents along nerves directly into the brain without diversion into other organs.

Their technology uses spherical nucleic acid technology to construct nanoscale structures with gold cores coated in DNA strands that activate a protective immune pathway known as STING.  STING is a defensive immune process that normally triggers a destructive immune response against foreign agents including tumors.  Glioblastomas fail to induce STING by themselves.

In a mouse glioblastoma model, the researchers used these nano-nasal drops to induce STING and, along with T killer cells activating agents, effectively destroy the cancer with one or two doses. 

While this work is in its early stages, the technology to effectively transport cancer-killing agents from the nose into the brain is exciting indeed.

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20251122/Intranasal-nanomedicine-shows-promise-against-glioblastoma.aspx

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2409557122

#nasaldrops #nanotechology #braincancer #glioblastoma #immunotherapy