Project #2

ENGINEERED SPHERICAL NUCLEIC ACIDS FOR ADVANCED T-CELL THERAPY

Prof. Chad A. Mirkin
Prof. Bin Zhang

Melanoma is the most dangerous and deadly type of skin cancer. It develops when unrepaired DNA damage to skin cells (melanocytes) triggers genetic mutations that lead the skin cells to multiply rapidly, forming malignant tumors. In 2019, The American Cancer Society estimated over 90,000 new cases of melanoma will be reported. Immunotherapies, such as those based on spherical nucleic acids (SNAs), show promise for eradicating this devastating disease.

The objective of this research project is to develop a novel cellular-based therapy for treating established solid tumors (primarily melanoma) by using immunostimulatory SNAs (IS-SNAs) to program tumor-specific cytotoxic CD8+T-cells to home to and kill tumors.