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Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: scientizscht on 16/06/2019 22:07:22

Title: What are our available capabilities of delivering therapeutic molecules?
Post by: scientizscht on 16/06/2019 22:07:22

What are our available capabilities of delivering therapeutic molecules inside cells?

Can we deliver anything inside any cell with specificity for that type of cell?

Thanks!

Title: Re: What are our available capabilities of delivering therapeutic molecules?
Post by: evan_au on 17/06/2019 10:02:30

Quote from: OP

Can we deliver anything inside any cell with specificity for that type of cell?

There are a number of ways pharmaceuticals can be aimed at particular cell types:
Topical: Skin cells can be treated by rubbing on a cream

Intestinal: Some intestinal problems (eg worms) can be treated by swallowing a pill, whose active ingredient is too big to make it through the intestinal walls.

Eyes: Treatment for some eye conditions (eg Macular Degeneration) are treated by an injection into the eyeball.

Other Cell Types: There are viruses which dock to certain proteins on the surface of a cell.
- Once docked, the virus delivers a payload into the cell.
- By selecting the docking proteins carefully, you could select what type of cell the virus will "treat"
- This involves genetic engineering, and the public is still rather touchy about this subject

There is the problem of getting the virus to every cell of the population
- Which is a tradeoff with the number of cells that are injected by 2, 3 or more virus particles.

This is a treatment which won't work well in people who have been previously exposed to that particular virus
- Their immune cells will remember this virus as a hostile invader
- And neutralize the virus before it has a chance to deliver its payload in the intended dose,