Research Projects

The study proposes the synthesis of tri-substituted triazole for selective drug delivery systems targeting multiple tumor cell surface receptors. This approach could be an alternative therapeutic treatment to reduce or eliminate side effects associated with advanced colon cancer chemotherapy. The target receptors, such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), interleukin, folate, and integrin αvβ3, are highly expressed in various cancer types and serve as physiological targets for therapeutic delivery. However, these target receptors are also expressed at variable levels in healthy tissue, leading to non-selective targeting and systemic toxicity. Irinotecan, a synthetic analogue of camptothecin, is a chemotherapy agent that is a topoisomerase-1 inhibitor and is mainly used as a component of first-line therapy in combination with fluorouracil and leucovorin for the treatment of metastatic carcinoma of the colon or rectum. The main challenges for efficient delivery of Irinotecan include poor aqueous solubility and inactivation at pH below 6. The tri-substituted triazole (Dual-targeting Multi-Functional assembly, DTMFA) will contain RGD peptide for selectively binding to αvβ3/αvβ5 integrin receptors, folic acid for binding with FR2 receptor, and Irinotecan drug as a chemotherapy agent. The research proposal aims to improve the efficacy, reduce toxicity, and enhance the therapeutic index of irinotecan by preparing, characterization, and optimizing the bioconjugate.