ANN ARBOR—University of Michigan scientists will receive
an innovative approach to cancer treatment—nanomolecular
“smart bombs” that sense pre-malignant and cancerous
changes inside living cells and then destroy the cells
before they can grow into tumors.

“Our goal is to create a multi-functional therapeutic
device small enough to work inside living cells,” says
James R. Baker Jr., M.D., the project’s principal
investigator who directs the Center for Biologic
Nanotechnology in the U-M Medical School. “The device will
target to abnormal cells. If it confirms pre-cancerous
lesions, it can release a substance to kill the cell and
then verify that the cell is dead.”

The U-M project is one of five funded by the NCI’s new
Unconventional Innovations Program, which supports peer-
reviewed, high-risk, high-impact research with the
potential to revolutionize cancer care.

“During the last decade, scientists have learned a great
deal about biochemical and genetic changes within cells
that can lead to cancer,” says Allen Lichter, M.D., a
cancer specialist and dean of the U-M Medical School. “Now
we need to develop new ways to identify and treat these
changes at the molecular level long before they can be
detected with current technology. Research funded by this
National Cancer Institute program could help bring us
closer to that goal.”

Synthetic polymers called dendrimers will be used as
delivery vehicles to transport anti-cancer drugs and
sensing agents into cells, according to Baker. “Dendrimers
already are used in many biological applications,” he says.
“They have been shown to readily enter cells, and they have
little toxicity when given intravenously.”

Fifteen researchers from the U-M Medical School, the U-M
College of Engineering and the U-M College of Literature,
Science, and the Arts will collaborate on the three-year
research project. Working together, these scientists hope
to develop new sensing technologies capable of imaging
biochemical changes within cells. Researchers in the
U-M College of Engineering will concentrate on finding ways
to use ultrafast laser or sound wave energy pulses to
release anti-cancer drugs stored inside dendrimers.

Others from the U-M Medical School involved in the project
include Brian Athey, Ph.D., assistant professor of anatomy
and cell biology; Stephen Ethier, Ph.D., associate
professor of radiation oncology; James Mulay, Ph.D.,
professor of surgery and of internal medicine; Donald
Tomalia, Ph.D., senior research scientist; Jolanta
Kukowska, Ph.D., research investigator; Anna Bielinska,
Ph.D., research investigator; and research associates Lajos
Balogh, Ph.D., Istvan Majoros, Ph.D., and Lars Piehler,
Ph.D.

Collaborators from other U-M colleges include Mark
Banaszak-Holl, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry;
Bradford Orr, Ph.D., associate professor of physics; Emmett
Leith, Ph.D., professor of electrical engineering and
computer science; Theodore Norris, Ph.D., associate
professor of electrical engineering and computer science;
Gerard Mourou, Ph.D., professor of electrical engineering
and computer science.

The National Cancer Institute is a federal agency and part
of the National Institutes of Health.