Gene surgery has a new ally thanks to gold nanoparticles, which allow active ingredients to enter the nucleus of cells and act on DNA by eliminating harmful mutations. The discovery comes from the recently completed European I-Gene project, which has been acknowledged by the European Innovation Council for its excellence in innovation. This is a recognition given by the European Commission for important achievements.
“We are in an era where we can edit genomes and this means that if there are errors, we can basically correct them, but there is a bottleneck when you try to turn all this into useful therapies and applications,” explains Professor Vittoria Raffa of the Biology Department of the University of Pisa, coordinator of the project.
“The active ingredients that carry out this editing are actually enzymes that cannot enter the cells on their own,” continues Raffa. “In order to solve this problem, we were the first to use gold nanoparticles as vectors. They offer advantages over the viral vectors currently used: they are non-toxic, which makes it possible to use them more widely without contraindications, and they are activated by light”.
The project team, from left to right: Arnoud Everhardt, Vittoria Raffa, Soultana Konstantidinou, Marta d’amora, Mascha Stroobant, Agnieszka Lindstaedt, Carmen Piazza, Alessandro De Carli, Elena Landi, Chiara Gabellini, Michele Lai, Dariusz Witt, Piotr Barski.
Gold nanoparticles were tested in vitro and in vivo on zebrafish embryos. The case studies involved COVID-19 and melanoma. In the latter case, laser photoactivation was used.
On a technical level, I-Gene proposed a new concept of genetic engineering with a methodology based on laser activation of a nanovector capable of inducing DNA rupture or cleavage. The superiority over current methods also lies in the integration of temporal, spatial and fidelity functions: editing only occurs when the laser is switched on, and strictly focused on the target. Overall, this enables control of single-cell editing and provides a high level of confidence in the development of effective genome editing for biotechnology and therapeutic applications.
The lecturers of the University of Pisa involved in the project were Professor Vittoria Raffa together with Professor Chiara Gabellini of the Biology Department, Professor Mauro Pistello and Doctor Michele Lai of the Translational Medicine Department, and Professor Francesco Fuso of the Physics Department.
The final I-GENE conference was held on 19 and 20 March at ExCel in London, as a satellite event of the Advanced Therapies Congress, Europe’s largest conference and exhibition on cell and gene therapies. It was an incredible and unique opportunity for I-GENE researchers to meet industry leaders and policy makers, share insights, build partnerships, and shape the future of advanced therapies.