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A Liquid Crystalline “Flytrap” for Cancer Cells in the Brain

Drs. Robert Clements and Elda Hegmann (Biological Sciences, �鶹��ѡ)

Brain tumors such as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) are a major challenge in cancer therapy. Despite combination treatment, i.e. chirurgical removal of the tumor tissue plus radiation and chemotherapy, the morbidity and mortality are high, resulting in short survival times of the patients. This is due to invading tumor cells from the scar-neuronal tissue interface, that migrate into the void inside the brain, which was generated by the chirurgical procedure, and start multiplying to form new tumor tissue. Current state-of-the-art approaches, such as tissue engineering (for filling the hole) and drug delivery devices (for slow disposal of the drug) cannot sufficiently deal with the escaping cancer cells. Therefore, we aim to address a radically new venue for solving this issue: luring the cancer cells into degradable implants. To succeed in this, an ordered yet flexible environment, to which the cancer cells preferably migrate (in contrast to the disordered scar tissue), is needed. To achieve this, it is proposed to employ tailored liquid-crystalline elastomers (LCEs). Our team had previously demonstrated that LCEs can indeed attract cancer cells preferentially and direct their movement. It is envisioned that the latter can provide an attractive scaffolding for cancer cells and at the same time fill the surgical cavities perfectly on account of their LC self-assembly. Thus, the elastomer should act as a “flytrap”, first attracting the migrating tumor cells and finally trapping/killing them by potentially having anticancer molecules embedded in the implant. Our LCE formulation has been recently used for bioprinting and introduces an advanced technique for precise and complex manufacturing of custom-designs suitable for a wide range of tissues.