Cell trainer: Immune cells attracted to nooks in this porous, biodegradable polymer implant are stimulated to attack cancer.
Credit: Omar Ali
New publications, experiments and breakthroughs in materials science--and what they mean.
Cell Programmer
A polymer implant signals cells to combat cancer.
Source: "Infection-Mimicking Materials to Program Dendritic Cells In Situ"
David Mooney et al.
Nature Materials 8: 151-158
Results: A new implant attracts immune cells and exposes them to molecules that stimulate them to attack cancerous tumors. When tested in mice that normally die of cancer within 25 days, the implants allowed 90 percent of the mice to survive. Similar experimental therapies based on transplanting immune cells are only about 60 percent effective.
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