Tech Session VII: Nanomedicine and Nanoscale Delivery (Focus: Bioengineering)
Design of an intrinsically therapeutic nanocarrier platform for the treatment of ovarian cancer
Friday, July 18, 2025
8:54 AM – 9:05 AM EDT
Introduction: Therapy resistance significantly contributes to cancer mortality, especially in ovarian cancer. Overcoming resistance is key to improving patient outcomes. Therapy resistant cancer cells are sensitive to ferroptosis, a cell death mechanism driven by iron and lipid peroxide buildup. These cells downregulate specific polyunsaturated ether phospholipids (PU-ePLs), which can be restored exogenously, sensitizing cells to ferroptosis and improving efficacy of ferroptosis inducing compounds like GPX4 inhibitors. PUFA-ePLs are intriguing building blocks for intrinsically therapeutic nanocarriers.
Learning Objectives:
At the completion of this activity, participants will know
Understand the concept of using bioactive lipids to create intrinsically therapeutic nanocarriers
Evaluate small molecule and siRNA-based methods of GPX4 inhibition
Demonstrate lipid-based nanocarriers can be used to augment anticancer activity of GPX4 inhibition
