Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, in collaboration with Northwestern University, have developed a non-invasive nanotechnology-based therapy — which eradicated glioblastoma tumors in mice — using simple nasal drops, according to ScienceDaily.
The treatment used spherical nucleic acids – gold nanoparticle cores coated with short strands of DNA, designed to activate the cGAS-STING immune pathway within the brain.
The term “cGAS” refers to the cGAS-STING signaling pathway, an essential component of the innate immune system.
This pathway acts as the body's main sensor for detecting foreign or misplaced double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) within the cell's cytoplasm, which generally indicates an infection (viral or bacterial) or cellular damage.
Administered intranasally, these "nanodots" travel along neural pathways from the nasal cavity to the brain, bypassing the blood-brain barrier without surgical intervention.
During testing in mice, the nanotherapy successfully transformed these typical “cold” tumors – which usually evade immune detection – into “hot” tumors, which respond to the immune system, triggering a focused local immune attack – with minimal spread to the rest of the body.
To enhance the anti-tumor effect, the researchers combined nanotips that activate STING with drugs that increase T cell activity.
T cells are white blood cells called lymphocytes.
This two-dose combination eliminated brain tumors in mice and generated long-term immune memory – which prevented tumor recurrence.
The team is now exploring ways to integrate additional immune-activating features into the nanostructures, so that multiple immunotherapy targets can be addressed in a single, non-invasive treatment.
