Dr. Aryeh Dagan and Prof. Shimon Gat from the Department of Biochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine of the Hebrew University of Hadassah, among the recipients of the prestigious Kay Award at a ceremony to be held this week at the meeting of the Board of Trustees
Two researchers from the Hebrew University developed synthetic molecules that managed to shrink cancerous tumors and even make them disappear completely without causing toxic effects in healthy tissues. This research may lead to the development of a new group of drugs to treat cancer.
Dr. Aryeh Dagan and Prof. Shimon Gat from the Department of Biochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine of the Hebrew University of Hadassah, who are responsible for the innovative development, will be among the recipients of the prestigious K Award at a ceremony to be held on Wednesday, June 4, 2008, as part of the 71st session of the Board of Trustees of the Hebrew University.
Dr. Dagan and Prof. Gat have developed a new group of molecules that affect the metabolism of sphingolipids and consequently cancer cells. Sphingolipids are a family of substances involved in many cellular activities including cell growth, cellular signaling mechanisms, differentiation and cell death. The synthetic molecules developed by the They even eliminated cancerous tissues in mice bearing tumors of human origin, while no toxic effects were detected in those that did not bear tumors.
Some of the most active substances that have been developed are derivatives of the molecule called ceramide (from the sphingolipid group). The cancer cells usually maintain a low level of ceramide that cannot kill them. In preclinical studies done so far, various treatments with the synthetic molecules caused an increase in the ceramide level in the cancer cells and consequently their programmed death. The results showed that the group of molecules developed significantly reduced the tumors of pancreatic, prostate and breast cancers.
It was also found that the molecules can work effectively together with some of the existing drugs for the treatment of cancer. According to the researchers, "the substances we developed belong to a new type of drugs that selectively kill malignant cells and tissues. These drugs have little or no effect on healthy tissues." The researchers expect the molecules to be used effectively as anti-cancer drugs and with less toxic side effects.
The invention of Dr. Dagan and Prof. Gat was registered as a patent by Application - The Research Development Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was recently traded to the drug development company Bioline R.X., which is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
The Kay Award ceremony for innovative developments has been held at the Hebrew University every year since 1994. Sir Yitzhak Kay from England, a prominent industrialist in the pharmaceutical industry, founded the practice of awarding awards to encourage university faculty and students to develop innovative methods with commercial potential that would benefit the university and society.
