Melittin Nanoparticles Selectively Target Acute Myelogenous Leukemia Blasts to Induce Apoptosis.docVIP

Melittin Nanoparticles Selectively Target Acute Myelogenous Leukemia Blasts to Induce Apoptosis 　　Abstract: In Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), immature white blood cells, called myeloblasts, are formed from blood stem cells and build up in the bone marrow, blocking out white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets.1 Current treatments for AML are aimed at eliminating proliferative blast populations with limited success in targeting the leukemia stem cell population, often resulting in the use of chemotherapeutic agents that have potent effects on patients.2 The creation of drug-infused nanoparticles in targeted drug delivery as a therapeutic option for cancer patients has allowed selective delivery of potent drugs to tumor and cancerous cells, decreasing the drug’s effects on healthy cells.3 The most recent research regarding nanoparticles and AML includes antagomiR-126 nanoparticles that target miR-126 expression in AML blasts and the targeted delivery of microRNA-29b by transferrin-conjugated anionic lipopolyplex nanoparticles.4 Melittin, a toxin found in bee venom, has the ability to poke holes in cell membranes, as confirmed by research on the drug’s antiviral effects on HIV and most recently, by work with melittin fusion proteins and gastric cancer. 5 While nanoparticles are currently being researched to target AML blasts, melittin nanoparticles have not yet been used to target AML blasts. Using similar experimental models to the in vivo research and proposals on miR-126 and microRNA-29b, a transferrin-conjugated, melittin perfluorocarbon nanoparticle is proposed as a novel therapeutic strategy in AML. 　　Background: 　　Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a hematopoietic stem cell disorder characterized by a block in hematopoiesis that results in growth of a clonal population of neoplastic cells or blasts. 7 Thirty-three percent of people diagnosed with leukemia have AML. 8 Common treatments for leukemia currently include chemotherapy and bone marrow transpla