Folic Acid Receptors And Lung Cancer

Folate receptors are significantly more on a large fraction of human cancer cells including that in the lung.

This over-expression of folate receptors (FR) on cancer tissues has been exploited to target therapeutic agents specifically to FR-expressing tumors, thereby avoiding uptake by most healthy tissues that have relatively lesser number of folate receptors.

One scientist, University of Michigan’s James Baker, has discovered a highly efficient and successful way of delivering cancer-treatment drugs that is less harmful to the surrounding body. Baker has developed a nanotechnology that can locate and then eliminate cancerous cells. This is facilitated by a molecule called a dendrimer. This molecule has over one hundred hooks on it that allow it to attach to cells in the body for a variety of purposes. Folic-acid is then attached to a few of the hooks. Folic acid, being a vitamin, is received by cells in the body. Moreover, cancer cells have more vitamin receptors than normal cells, so the folic-acid laden dendrimer will be absorbed by the cancer cell. The vitamin folic acid (FA) enters cells via cellular absorption, facilitated by the folate receptor (FR).To the rest of the hooks on the dendrimer, anti-cancer drugs are placed that will be absorbed with the dendrimer into the cancer cell, thereby delivering the cancer drug to the cancer cell and nowhere else.

When folic acid is covalently linked via its gamma-carboxyl to anti-cancer drugs, folate receptor binding affinity is not compromised and process of cellular absorption proceeds unhindered, promoting uptake of the attached drug by the Folate Receptor-expressing cell. Because FRs are significantly more on a large fraction of human cancer cells including that of lung, this methodology may allow for the selective delivery of a wide range of imaging and therapeutic agents to tumor tissues in the lung.

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Folic Acid Receptors And Lung Cancer