Professor Cha Hyung-Joon (CE) and his team developed a system which utilizes a bioengineered mussel adhesive protein (MAP) to deliver drugs for selective parts of treatments and to improve cancer treatments.

Generally, as drugs can only be applied to the body as a whole, resulting in many side-effects, thus limiting the treatment process. Accordingly, the development of an effective drug delivery system that allows for a selective delivery has been called for. Existing systems apply drugs directly to tumors, but were without an adhesive function that allowed drugs to hold on in designated areas. Although a spray-type drug delivery is convenient and selective, the issue of uniform application and consistent dispersion has always limited applicable cases for specific nanoparticles.

However, by utilizing MAP, a system that accounts for such downsides has been developed and is showing significant progress in increasing treatment effects.

Prof. Cha explained that this technology can be further developed to become available not only for chemical drugs, but also for genetic and antibody drugs. The research team will continue the investigation in order to apply such technology to various types of medical-purpose spray utilities, and to develop materials that can help in the treatment of skin, the respiratory system, digestive tracts, and other human body components.