CENTER FOR NANOTECHNOLOGY SCIENCEki.mit.edu/.../printables/KI_Center_for_Nanotechnology_Science.pdf · “A center for nanotechnology science within the Koch Institute will dramatically

CENTER FOR NANOTECHNOLOGY SCIENCE

“A center for nanotechnology science within the Koch Institute will dramatically accelerate the pace of discovery in cancer research.” — MIT Institute Professor Robert Langer

Building the cNs

Facility Support ($15M)

Research Laboratories•Training Laboratories•Specialized Equipment •Facilities

Programmatic Support ($10M)

Professorships•Clinical Investigator Program•Graduate Student Fellowships•Undergraduate Research•Frontier Research Support•

FUNDING PRIORITIES As anyone who has endured chemotherapy knows, the cycle of treatment not only involves serious side effects; it also spans many agonizing months of monitoring the treatment’s progress in fighting cancer. This usually involves a series of blood tests, but these tests often lack the accuracy that is needed for doctors to determine whether the drugs are reaching their target.

That could soon change, thanks to researchers in the Center for Nanotechnology Science (cNs), part of the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT. They have developed a tiny, implantable device loaded

with nanoparticles that can reveal not only whether a person is responding to chemotherapy but also whether a tumor is growing or shrinking, and whether it has spread.

Many grand challenges of addressing cancer, from detecting a few early malignant cells among billions of healthy cells, to delivering potent drugs to late-stage tumors without harming other tissue, require new approaches that target the minuscule components of cells — DNA, RNA, proteins — and their chemical signals and pathways.

Harnessing the power of the very small

Nanotechnology, the development and engineering of devices so small that they are measured on a molecular scale, is on the brink of enabling such approaches. The cNs will lead this revolution.

Already, cNs researchers have developed nanotechnologies that are advancing cancer treatment. These include “smart bombs” — nanoscale particles loaded with conventional chemotherapeutic agents and covered with homing molecules that allow the particles to selectively bind to and enter cancer cells. These devices hold the promise of both reducing the toxicity and improving the efficacy of a wide range of existing anti-cancer agents. They will soon be tested in human clinical trials.

cNs research teams are also advancing the promising new field of RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics. Discovered only in the last decade, RNAi is a powerful and naturally occurring phenomenon that can be used to silence any gene, including, in the case of cancer, the mutated genes that drive uncontrolled cell growth. The key is to deliver RNAi molecules safely and effectively. With cutting-edge nanoscale tools in cNs laboratories, researchers are inventing ways for RNAi molecules to selectively pinpoint cancer cells.

Several other cNs projects employ nanotechnology to provide new solutions for cancer detection and management. These include:

implantable sensors with •nanoscale imaging agents that can detect cancer and elucidate the molecular basis of metastasis;

cNs Objectives

The Center for Nanotechnology Science (cNs) will generate entirely new paradigms for addressing cancer that target the disease on a molecular level. The cNs is key to the Koch Institute’s mission to dramatically accelerate the pace of discovery and to transfer innovative cancer research to real-world medical solutions.

new ways to quickly •synthesize a vast array of polymers that can be optimized to deliver their payload inside the body, whether it’s DNA, RNA, or a drug;

self-assembling polymers •that deliver cancer drugs directly to tumor cells; and

a nanoparticle that can •penetrate a cell membrane without rupturing it.

These capabilities not only promise to provide new ways to treat cancer, they will also likely have a broad impact on other diseases. Like the Koch Institute as a whole, the cNs is a groundbreaking collaboration among the world’s most brilliant biologists, engineers, and clinicians. It is the ideal training ground for future generations of researchers who will spread their interdisciplinary knowledge to medical institutions, health care companies, universities, and research laboratories around the world. The ultimate goal: to improve the lives of cancer patients and their families. The first step is your participation and support: We need the help of individuals who share our commitment

to radically transforming cancer research through nanotechnology.

The cNs seeks $15 million to fund its cutting-edge research facility. We also seek $10 million to establish new professorships in nanotechnology; support nanotechnology training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students who will lead the next generation of cancer researchers; and fund the appointment of KI Clinical Investigators — physician-scientists who conduct nanotechnology-based oncology research while maintaining clinical activity with cancer patients.

For more information, please visit web.mit.edu/ki

CONTACT INFORMATION

Sharon Stanczak, Director of Integrative Science InitiativesMassachusetts Institute of Technology600 Memorial Drive, W98-561Cambridge, MA 02139Phone: 617.253.3272Fax: 617.258.5748Email: [email protected]

Last updated: March 18, 2009