Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Lumiblast (A paradigm shift in cancer therapy – using mitochondria-powered chemiluminescence to non-invasively treat inaccessible tumours)

Teaser

LUMIBLAST started on the 1st October 2016. The overall aim of the project is to address deep lying cancers like brain cancers (e.g. glioblastoma multiforme – GBM) by using chemically generated light to excite a photosensitive drug which will consequently kill the tumour...

Summary

LUMIBLAST started on the 1st October 2016. The overall aim of the project is to address deep lying cancers like brain cancers (e.g. glioblastoma multiforme – GBM) by using chemically generated light to excite a photosensitive drug which will consequently kill the tumour around it by generating toxic oxygen byproducts.
The overall project objectives are:
• Design and synthesis of the LUMIBLAST compounds with varying properties.
• Photochemical studies on the LUMIBLAST compounds, with regards to their stability, luminescence efficiency and ability to interact with photosensitive dugs and provide them with light.
• Validation and optimization of LUMIBLAST in GBM cancer cell lines, and selection of the best perform-ing modified luminols for animal studies (WP3).
• Evaluation of LUMIBLAST in the appropriate animal tumour models.
• Assessment of LUMIBLAST potential towards a clinical application based on the project results and design of a tentative business plan.
The work undertaken in LUMIBLAST has a huge societal impact as, currently, deep lying tumours like GBM are incurable and with a very bad prognosis. The treatments available at the moment are also highly invasive and are based on tumour resection and chemotherapy. Also GBM is a somehow “fluid” cancer, able to migrate to different parts of the brain, making it more difficult to cure. The hope with LUMIBLAST is to be able to administer two compounds to the patients the one of which will be able to provide light for the other (specifically in the cancer locality) and hence the second photosensitive compound will be able to kill the cancer cells.

Work performed

The work in LUMIBLAST is currently under a restrictive supply of information. This is for the benefit of the potential application in the sense that if protected then industrial partners will in the future have the incentive to finance and promote LUMIBLAST into the clinic. In this sense there is currently an “embargo” in the flow of information which will be gradually lifted upon successful patenting of LUMIBLAST. In this sense also, the dissemination of results has to be limited for the time being and we cannot go out fully to the end and lead users as we would have liked to. However here is some information on the workflow so far:
The objectives for the first year of the project were:
1. To successfully synthesize a batch of initial compounds specifically made for the project.
2. To provide quality control and the initial photo physical characterization.
3. To perform initial studies in cellular and extracellular systems to help understand the properties of these compounds.
The first objective was achieved in time with the overall production of 13 initial products with varying properties yet all relevant to LUMIBLAST. These compounds were further characterized according to objective 2 above and all partners were in agreement about their luminescence potency of the compounds in different environments and relative to their structure. Next we examined the behavior of these compounds in cell cultures and already discovered that LUMIBLAST can work in certain conditions in GBM cells. We are currently looking into the mechanistic details of these findings and also in ways to optimize our compounds so we can fine tune and broaden these encouraging results.

Final results

So far and being in the first year of this 4.5-year project the socioeconomic impacts of the project are not obvious. However, the project has, so far, provided employment to 4 full time new researchers plus a variable number of part-time PhD students and technicians (part-time or in kind), and has benefited much the labs involved in growth and research. Also the project has created a new scientific network of labs with direct access to one another for the collaboration on other projects non-related to LUMIBLAST or for the design of future collaborative research. Through these collaborations there are some early commercial initiatives between partners from the academia and industry for the launching of new products and this initiative might even seek support from the FET OPEN launchpad scheme. Certainly the LUMIBLAST consortium has gone beyond the state of art in different aspects of the research around LUMIBLAST as this initial effort is to understand the platform of LUMIBLAST, its limitations and its snags; that has led to a better understanding of various parameters of the system pertaining for example to luminescence amongst others.
From what has already been done up to this stage we hope to be able to deliver documentation for commercialization of LUMIBLAST.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.lumiblast.eu.