FAST-er drug delivery:
Dr. Roy Duncan engineers FAST proteins into powerful weapons against cancer and viruses
Through 20 years of studying viral proteins, Dr. Roy Duncan discovered a whole new class of proteins with a unique capability to fuse cellular membranes. He called the new proteins ‘FAST proteins,’ or ‘fusion-associated small transmembrane proteins.’ Since discovering them in the 1990s, he has used them to develop powerful new strategies against cancer and viruses.
“Cell membranes are a barrier to drug delivery, but FAST proteins help us breach that barrier,” says Dr. Duncan, a professor in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology. “We discovered that putting FAST proteins on the surface of liposomes allows these tiny soap-bubble-like particles to fuse to cell membranes and then enter the cell.” He explains that liposomes then become vehicles that can deliver a cargo of drugs, encapsulated in the liposomes, directly into the cell.
With assistance from the technology transfer office at Dalhousie University, and seed venture capital from MedInnova Partners Inc., Dr. Duncan patented his method of attaching FAST-proteins to liposome-encapsulated medications in 2000. He is now working with colleagues at Dalhousie, McMaster University and the University of Ottawa, and with the U.S. National Institutes of Health and a Nova Scotia biotech company, to apply his ‘FAST-liposome’ technology to the discovery and delivery of new anti-cancer agents.
“We’re finding ways to target the FAST-liposomes so they selectively fuse with cancer cells,” says Dr. Duncan, “This delivers lethal doses of drugs to cancer cells, without harming healthy cells.”
A member of the Canadian Centre for Vaccinology in Halifax, Dr. Duncan is also collaborating with other vaccine researchers to determine whether FAST proteins can also help deliver vaccines into cells to provoke a more complete immune response. “This has long been a holy grail for vaccine companies,” he says.
Always a basic scientist at heart, Dr. Duncan is equally excited by what FAST proteins may reveal about cell-to-cell membrane fusion. “FAST proteins offer clues that may help us understand cell-to-cell membrane fusion,” he says. “This is a mysterious process that is critical to the development and maintenance of body tissues.”
Dr. Duncan received the 2008 Max Forman Research Award from the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation for his outstanding achievements.
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