Authors:

Sofia A. Vujevich

Date Created:

Not specified

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About Paper:

Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer and has seen an increase in diagnosis by 32 percent over the past few decades [1]. To treat melanoma and, specifically, metastases of this cancer, we propose to target the melanogenic pathway, where the natural amino acid L-tyrosine is converted into the melanin pigments that give skin its color. Such targeting would be highly selective for melanoma-originated cancers and can side-step the side effects usually associated with conventional chemotherapies [2]. Moreover, when such pathway is targeted using phenolic drugs such as monobenzyl-ether of hydroquinone (MBEH), an L-tyrosine mimic drug, enhanced antitumor immune activity is observed, providing an additional mechanism for killing cancer cells. We proposed that nanoparticles (NPs) loaded with lauroyl-MBEH, a novel MBEH derivative, can offer additional selectivity through their small size, their abilities to target cancer cells, and their ability to deliver a large quantity of the active drug to such cells [3]. This presentation will report the synthesis and characterization of the lauroyl-MBEH-loaded liposomal NPs. Also will be discussed are: i) the use of biochemical assays to evaluate the antitumor activity in B16-F10 model cells; ii) mechanistic studies using Western Blot analysis in an attempt to decipher the biochemical basis of the drug's antitumor activities.

Source:

Northwestern University

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Co-authors:

Sofia A. Vujevich