Polyol-methanofullerene used in research of antitumor remedies

PhD student Gulnaz Sharapova is one of the winners of the 1 million RUB grant in the Student Startup competition.

Her project is titled ‘Development of an antitumor medication based on a water-soluble derivative of C60 fullerene’.

“Fullerenes are non-toxic carbon nanostructures that, due to their ability to absorb and deactivate reactive oxygen species (ROS), exhibit powerful antioxidant activity. It is known that malignant tumor cells produce elevated levels of ROS, which, through ROS-dependent signaling pathways, enhance their malignancy. Thus, fullerenes are potential antitumor agents,” explains Sharapova.

One of the main obstacles for the use of fullerenes is their lack of water solubility.

“The staff of the Institute of Organic and Physical Chemistry, Kazan Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, have synthesized polyol-methanofullerene, a water-soluble derivative of C60 fullerene. It is the object of our research. Polyol-methanofullerene is extremely interesting in that it not only retains the antiradical properties of natural fullerene, but also has a selective mitochondria-targeted action. Our preliminary studies show that polyol-methanofullerene selectively reduces the mitochondrial potential and ROS in some tumor cell lines and negatively affects their survival,” continues the young laureate.

Her research consultant is Senior Research Associate of the Gene and Cell Technologies Lab Nataliya Kalacheva.