Selective Destruction of Cancer Cells! UNIST Develops Enzyme-Responsive Polymer

Professor Yoo Jahyung's Team Develops Polymer for Cancer Cell Death Without Drug Resistance Concerns

New Cancer Therapy Targets Only Cancer Cells While Protecting Healthy Cells

The UNIST research team has developed a new technology that precisely eliminates only cancer cells.

This method forms protein-mimicking polymers inside mitochondria exclusively in cancer cells, leading to their destruction.

The team led by Professor Yoo Jahyung from the Department of Chemistry at UNIST (President Park Jongrae) has developed a way to form protein-mimicking polymers only in cancer cells. The technology utilizes enzymes that are excessively expressed within cancer cells.

Professor Yu Jahyung's team (top left corner).

These polymers do not damage normal cells, making them safer than conventional cancer therapies.

While existing polymerization systems have struggled to distinguish between cancer and normal cells, the research team created a new polymerization system that acts selectively only in cancer cells.

Polymerization refers to the process in which small molecules repeatedly bond to form large molecules.

The team synthesized monomers that react to specific enzymes. These monomers are activated by the enzymes and form polymers through specific chemical bonds. The resulting polymers destroy mitochondria within cancer cells and induce oxidative stress, thereby inhibiting cancer cell growth.

Cancer cells express the enzyme thioesterase at much higher levels than normal cells. Due to this enzyme, the polymerization reaction occurs selectively only in cancer cells, leaving normal cells unaffected. As a result, it is possible to eliminate only cancer cells without drug resistance.

Protein-mimicking polymer chemical structure.

Professor Yoo Jahyung stated, "We have advanced a system that controls cell fate by forming polymers within cells," and added, "We expect this new technology to become a more effective treatment in cancer therapy."

The research results were published in the Journal of Controlled Release on July 16. The study was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea.