독일의 과학자들은 자기력(magnetic force)을 이용함으로 인하여, 동물 실험에서 유전자 요법(gene therapy)을 유도해내는데 성공하였다. Magnetofection로 명명된 그 기술은 유전자 요법의 효과를 증가시켜줄 가능성을 가지고 있을 뿐만 아니라, 부작용도 감소시켜줄 수 있다. 그 연구에 대한 주요 저술자가 Reuters Health에서 밝혔다.
Magnets May Enhance Gene Therapy
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Scientists in Germany have succeeded in using magnetic forces to guide gene therapy in animal experiments. The technique, dubbed magnetofection, has the potential not only to enhance the effectiveness of gene therapy but also to reduce its side effects, the study's lead author told Reuters Health.
"It is possible to target gene delivery by application of an external magnetic field," Dr. Christian Plank of Technische Universitat Munchen told Reuters Health. He said that this technique may drastically improve the efficiency of gene delivery. Plank and his colleagues report their findings in the journal Gene Therapy.
"Approaches in gene therapy which have not been feasible until now may become feasible," Plank said. It is possible, according to the German researcher, that using magnetofection to improve the targeting of gene therapy may minimize some side effects. The technique also provides "a potent new tool" for basic research, he said.
Plank cautioned, however, "Our work is nothing more than a proof of principle." For magnetofection to become practical, better devices that allow strong magnetic fields to be focused on interior parts of the body must be developed, he explained. Plank and his colleagues are working on developing such a device.
If the researchers succeed in making magnetofection feasible, Plank said it will be possible to "trap" not only genes but also more conventional drugs within target organs.
"This will reduce the required dose to achieve the desired therapeutic effect and will reduce the side effect-related risks," Plank said.
One of the aims of drug therapy, Plank explained, is to target medications as much as possible in order to minimize side effects. He noted that one of the problems with most chemotherapy drugs used to treat cancer is that they produce severe side effects because they act throughout the body, not just on tumor cells.
Recently, researchers have been trying to use magnets to improve the targeting of cancer drugs. This involves linking the drugs with tiny particles called superparamagnetic nanoparticles that are attracted to magnetic fields, Plank explained. Once these drugs are introduced into the blood vessels that supply a tumor, a strong magnetic field is applied to attract the nanoparticles--and the drug to which they are attached--to the tumor.
Plank and his colleagues reasoned that what worked for conventional drugs should also work for gene therapy, although making this leap was not easy, he said. Plank pointed out that the DNA used in gene therapy is much larger than drug molecules, which makes it more difficult to deliver DNA to target cells and organs.
In a set of experiments in cell samples and in rats and mice, Plank's team succeeded in using magnets to guide gene therapy. When the researchers paired gene therapy vectors--the harmless viruses used to deliver DNA to cells--with superparamagnetic nanoparticles and then applied a magnetic field, high concentrations of genetic material were transported to the target cells within minutes, Plank said.
"As a consequence of our magnetic targeting, the efficacy of the gene delivery process could be improved up to several thousand-fold," Plank said.
Plank and his colleagues note that magnetofection offers several potential improvements over current gene therapy techniques. Lower doses of the gene therapy vector are needed in magnet-guided gene therapy, and the process is faster.
Magnetofection may also make it possible to reach organs or cells that are difficult to reach with conventional gene therapy, according to the report.
SOURCE: Gene Therapy 2002;9:102-109.
출처 : Reuters Health
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