How Nanotech Could Unlock Smarter Cancer Treatments
This project brings together researcher Jorine Eeftens (Radboud University) and the innovative nanotech startup 1NA to create a new method for discovering cancer treatments. Using a cutting-edge platform called NanoLoom, the team will test existing drugs to see if their effectiveness can be predicted early in the development process using a single-molecule approach. If successful, they will explore large libraries of existing drugs to identify new candidates that could be repurposed for cancer treatment. This public-private partnership combines advanced chip design with deep expertise in how cancer-related proteins interact with DNA.
Cancer remains a major health challenge, with nearly 125,000 new cases diagnosed each year in the Netherlands. Many cancer treatments target transcription factors, proteins that control whether genes are switched on or off. These proteins play a crucial role in cancer but are notoriously difficult to target with drugs, earning them the label “undruggable.” Creating new medicines is also expensive and slow, making drug repurposing, finding new uses for existing drugs, a smarter, faster alternative.
In this project, the team will refine NanoLoom to observe how drugs affect DNA-protein interactions at the single-molecule level. First, they will test it using a widely used drug for prostate cancer. Then, they’ll screen a large library of approved drugs to discover new candidates that might work against hard-to-treat cancer targets. This high-precision method could pave the way for more effective treatments.
