Chung et al. havedesigned a therapeutic nanocarrier for drug delivery using compounds derived from epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), an antioxidant found in green tea. The sequential self-assembly of the EGCG derivative with trastuzumab led to the formation of stable micellar nanocomplexes. The authors then added a protective shell of polyethylene glycol and EGCG. When injected in breast cancer xenograft mouse models, these nanocomplexes had greater tumour selectivity and reduction — and longer blood half-life — than free trastuzumab.
References
Chung, J. E. et al. Self-assembled micellar nanocomplexes comprising green tea catechin derivatives and protein drugs for cancer therapy. Nature Nanotechnol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2014.208 (2014)
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Villanueva, M. Delivered in a tea bag. Nat Rev Cancer 14, 706 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3851
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3851
