The Kuopio University Foundation has awarded Dr. Timonen a personal working grant for his research on LAT1-targeted boron carriers for BNCT treatment of malignant brain tumors. The research aims to development of novel amino acid based compounds that can be used in Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) of malignant brain tumors.
BNCT is a novel radio therapy to treat cancer that can selecivelu destroy tumor but spare healthy tissue. It is based on biochemically targeted tumor-seeking compounds that contain non-radioactive Boron-10 isotope. Boron-10 can be activated by non-destructive neutron radiation. Activated Boron-10 atoms will undergo fission which leads to formation of radiactivity inside the tumor cells. Precise targeting of these Boron-10 containing boron carriers will lead to selective destruction of malignant cells while the healthy ones will be intact
At the moment, BNCT suffers from lack of well targeting boron carriers. In case of brain tumors, the challenge is partially the blood-brain-barrier (BBB), a natural barrier that protects brains against harmful chemicals. Unfortunately, BBB blocks numerous drugs e.g. anti-cancer drugs and several potential boron carriers outside of brain tissue and consequently outside of brain tumors.
LAT1 is an amino acid transported that is highly expressed in sevreal human cancer types, e.g. gliomas. It has been also shown that LAT1 is highly expressed in BBB, which makes it a good target for brain delivery and drug discovery. Dr. Timonen utilizes this by designing and synthetizing LAT1 targeting boron carriers.
The Kuopio University Foundation funds doctoral and post-doctoral studies carried out in Kuopio Campus of University of Eastern Finland.
