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Turmeric is a key ingredient in a traditional Indian kitchen and is used in treating a variety of ailments at home and is considered a panacea. Now, scientists at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) have found that curcumin, which is extracted from turmeric, can be used in the treatment of cancer.
They have developed nano-curcumin structures to encapsulate the RNAi and other molecules that help in targeting specific tissues. “The proposed bio-drug is non-toxic, bio-compatible with a higher uptake efficiency. It shows effective site-specific delivery with regression of tumors in two different mouse models of colon and breast cancer,” they said.
RNAi-based therapy
RNA interference (RNAi), a gene silencing approach, is a promising tool for targeted and focused therapy for chronic diseases like cancer. “The lack of safe and effective delivery methods for RNAi molecules is one of the key challenges against using RNAi-based therapy in biological systems,” Lekha Dinesh Kumar, who is part of the research team, said.
The group collaborated with the Polymer Science and Engineering Division at CSIR-NCL. This work was published in the journal Nanoscale.
“Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and is attached to economic burden and social stigma. The quest to find plausible therapeutic interventions to replace non-specific chemo drugs has recently led to the development of novel strategies to combat cancer,” she said.
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