New anti-cancer agent works without oxygen

The team led by Johannes Karges has developed a compound that fights cancer cells without the presence of oxygen.
Credit: RUB, Marquard

Why tumors shrink but don’t disappear.

“As tumors grow very quickly, consume a lot of oxygen and their vascular growth can’t necessarily keep pace, they often contain areas that are poorly supplied with oxygen,” explains Johannes Karges. These areas, often in the center of the tumor, frequently survive treatment with conventional drugs, so that the tumor initially shrinks but doesn’t disappear completely. This is because the therapeutic agents require oxygen to be effective.

The mechanism of action developed by Karges’ team works without oxygen. “It’s a catalyst based on the element ruthenium, which oxidizes the naturally present glutathione in the cancer cells and switches it off,” explains Karges. Glutathione is essential for the survival of cells and protects them from a wide range of different factors. If it ceases to be effective, the cell deteriorates.

Compound accumulates in tumor tissue

All cells of the body need and contain glutathione. However, the catalyst has a selective effect on cancer cells as it is packaged in polymeric nanoparticles that accumulate specifically in the tumor tissue. Experiments on cancer cells and on mice with human tumors, that were considered incurable, proved successful. “These are encouraging results that need to be confirmed in further studies,” concludes Johannes Karges. “Still, there’s a lot of research work to be done before it can be used in humans.”

Journal: Nature Communications
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-53646-y
Method of Research: Experimental study
Subject of Research: Animals
Article Title: Tumor-Targeted Glutathione Oxidation Catalysis with Ruthenium Nanoreactors against Hypoxic Osteosarcoma

Media Contact

Meike Driessen
Ruhr-University Bochum
meike.driessen@uv.rub.de
Office: 49-234-32-26952

Expert Contact

Dr. Johannes Karges
Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
johannes.karges@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
Office: +49 234 32 24187
 @ruhrunibochum

Media Contact

Meike Driessen
Ruhr-University Bochum

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