In: Biology
Suppose you were planning to use liposomes in an attempt to deliver a drug that could potentially be used in the treatment of a tumor whose cells have a protein called tumor cell antigen (TGA) in their membrane. This protein found in the membrane of tumor cells has been shown to be absent in all normal cells. A.) How would you need to construct your liposome to protect it from the host immune system phagocytes? B.) How might your liposome be construct to increase its target specificity to the tumor cell only?
Drug delivery using liposomes has been a valuable strategy to mitigate toxicity of anticancer drugs in patients. While this approach has not significantly improved clinical efficacy till now, yet new understanding of the mechanisms of interactions between liposomes and the immune system will build up the the foundations for future work that will realize the full clinical potential of cancer medicinal treatment.