@article{10902/23774,
year = {2021},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10902/23774},
abstract = {Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) is the seventh most common cancer worldwide with a 5-year survival from diagnosis of 50%. Currently, HNC is diagnosed by a physical examination followed by an histological biopsy, with surgery being the primary treatment. Here, we propose the use of targeted nanotechnology in support of existing diagnostic and therapeutic tools to prevent recurrences of tumors with poorly defined or surgically inaccessible margins. We have designed an innocuous ligand-protein, based on the receptor-binding domain of the Shiga toxin (ShTxB), that specifically drives nanoparticles to HNC cells bearing the globotriaosylceramide receptor on their surfaces. Microscopy images show how, upon binding to the receptor, the ShTxB-coated nanoparticles cause the clustering of the globotriaosylceramide receptors, the protrusion of filopodia, and rippling of the membrane, ultimately allowing the penetration of the ShTxB nanoparticles directly into the cell cytoplasm, thus triggering a biomimetic cellular response indistinguishable from that triggered by the full-length Shiga toxin. This functionalization strategy is a clear example of how some toxin fragments can be used as natural biosensors for the detection of some localized cancers and to target nanomedicines to HNC lesions.},
organization = {This research was funded by ISCIII Projects ref. PI19/00349, DTS19/00033, co-funded by ERDF/ESF, “Investing in your future”; and MICINN Projects ref. CTM2017-84050-R, NanoBioApp, and HIPERNANO Research Networks (MINECO-17-MAT2016-81955-REDT and RED2018-102626-T), MCIU/AEI/FEDER, EU under project PGC2018-101464-B-100, COST action Nano2Clinic CA17140, and IDIVAL for the INNVAL19/12 and INNVAL20/13 projects and PREVAL18/02, PREVAL16/02 and 16/03. M.B.L. acknowledges NORTE 2020 (2014-2020 North Portugal Regional Operational Program), and the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) Grant NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-
000019, and 2014-2020 INTERREG Cooperation Programme Spain–Portugal (POCTEP) through the project 0624-2IQBIONEURO-6-E.},
publisher = {MDPI},
publisher = {Cancers, 2021, 13(19), 4920},
title = {Targeting nanomaterials to head and neck cancer cells using a fragment of the shiga toxin as a potent natural ligand},
author = {Navarro Palomares, Elena and García Hevia, Lorena and Padín González, Esperanza and Bañobre López, Manuel and Villegas Sordo, Juan Carlos and Valiente Barroso, Rafael and López Fanarraga, Mónica},
}