Publication: Exosome-based Molecular Communications Glioblastoma Treatment

Outline of the Paper

In the natural world, or in other words, the animal world, there are dynamical systems which involve interactions between animals of different species. An example of such dynamics is the interactions between a predator and a prey, for example a fox and a rabbit. These interactions can be described and modelled mathematically so that we can understand how much of the population of each species will increase or decrease over time, and these models are called Predator-Prey or Lotka-Volterra models. In our paper, we modelled the interactions between exosomes which are transporters of therapeutic molecules and glioblastoma tumour cells as a Predator-Prey system; where the exosomes play the role of the predator and the tumour cells play the role of the prey.

The paper aims to mathematically describe and model the interactions between induced Neural Stem Cells derived exosomes and the Glioblastoma Multiform; an aggressive form of tumour in the brain, as Predator-Prey interactions. We introduce a control system, with the objective of controlling these interactions aiming to completely eradicate the tumour.

Who will it help?

Glioblastoma Multiform is the most aggressive form of cancer in the brain. Patients diagnosed with this cancer do not have a long life expectancy. Our research has the objective of shedding light into the battle against this form of tumor by describing it from another perspective and understanding it as a prey that needs to be hunted. Comprehending how the tumor grows, behaves and how we can target it is fundamental. The ultimate goal then is to use novel theranostics methods such as exosomes to target this tumor and hopefully completely eradicate it.

What is the future of this research?

The next step for our research is to continue working on the adaptive control algorithm to make it adapt to the data in real-time in order to be even more efficient to eradicate the tumor. In our research, we considered the interactions between the exosomes and the tumor cells, with no feedback from the tumor cells. This means that we can analyse the outcome of the system, the growth or eradication of the tumor based on the exosomes input, or based on our external input that would make more exosomes be release from induced Neural Stem cells. The next step is to consider the feedback from the tumor cells, which would come from messaging molecules from these cells, that would be received and used in our control algorithm allowing us to adapt the system in real-time making it more efficient.

There are also many industry applications that could come from this research in the future. One of them would be in the production of the engineered Neural Stem cells and exosomes to be used in the battle against this form of tumor or other similar diagnosis. Another application would be in targeted drug-delivery systems or in the field of Theranostics (Therapeutics + Diagnostics) applying the adaptive control algorithm in similar diagnosis and clinical settings to make these systems and delivery of drugs more efficient.

Links

Link for the original Post: https://tssg.org/2021/02/13/publication-exosome-based-molecular-communications-glioblastoma-treatment/

Link for the publication: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348975448_Accepted_Paper_Predator-Prey_Adaptive_Control_for_Exosome-based_Molecular_Communications_Glioblastoma_Treatment