Amino Acid from Chicken Feather Helps Deliver Chemotherapy Drugs

Scientists from King's College London developed a novel technique of drug delivery that uses proline amino acid derived from chicken feathers. Their research may reduce chemotherapy's side effects and repair essential enzymes.

Chemotherapy is a common treatment for cancer patients. However, chemo can also eliminate the healthy cells that surround the tumors, which can cause adverse side effects, such as nerve damage and hair loss. Due to this, researchers must find alternative methods to deliver medicinal drugs in a safer way.

UK Researchers used proline peptides to design metal-peptidic cages that can support various sizes of drugs and deliver them precisely to the human body. This technique can be used to directly channel the drug's effect to the cancer tumor and protect healthy cells. “In time, we hope that this could mean that we can limit the hair loss, nausea, and other unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy. We might even be able to repair malfunctioning enzymes that have an influence on the development of cancer. The best part is we can do this sustainably and at scale,” said Dr. Charlie McTernan, group leader of the study.

Read the press release of King's College London for more information.