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Jonathan Sessler:
Fighting Cancer in the First Person
Continued from Page 13
and grow. If the metal homeostasis of a cell is tipped off balance, the cell
will become weak and unhealthy and the cancer will become much more
susceptible to other treatments. For example, MGd coupled with radiation
therapy increases cancer cell death. “Radiation puts stress on the cells and the
drug puts further stress on the cells. Add them together and the cells start
to die,” says Sessler. Texaphyrins also steal electrons from key cell-protecting
molecules, such as antioxidants, and cause them to produce compounds toxic
to these cells. As damaging and potentially dangerous as this process sounds,
texaphyrins are relatively non-toxic to non-cancerous cells and are highly localized
in cancer cells, making them examples of a new approach to cancer therapy where
chemists create from scratch new molecules that target tumors with a high level
of precision, which can be used to detect and treat them with tolerable side effects.
Sessler is also working with fellow organic chemistry professors Eric Anslyn
and Chris Bielawski in developing anion recognition technologies. One main
goal in this line of research is to develop the technology needed to remove
phosphates from the blood of patients undergoing hemodialysis. To the
extent this goal can be achieved, it would allow for improved PET (positron
emision tomography) imaging agents, and thus improve the level of “blood
cleansing” for patients with compromised or failing kidneys to a level well
above what current technology offers. Sessler’s anion recognition technology
works by recognizing and detecting phosphates in the blood by their shape
and charge and then drawing them out. Sessler also hopes to apply the same
technology to develop highly precise water purification systems and develop
methods for treating radioactive waste.
Moving a drug or diagnostic or treatment method from development in the lab
to approval and distribution into the medical world is such an arduous task that
Rowland Pettit Centennial Chair
Sessler jokingly refers to the gap between academic research and commercial in Chemistry
application as “the valley of death”. Sessler feels strongly that there should be a
In 2008 Professor Jonathan Sessler was awarded the
better and easier way to help scientists translate their work into something
Rowland Pettit Centennial Chair in Chemisty. Rowland
the world could use and benefit from. With this in mind, Sessler co-founded
“Rolly” Pettit, for whom Professor Sessler’s Chair is
the Texas Institute for Drug and Diagnostic Development (TI-3D), which by named, was educated primarily in the area of physical-
encouraging exchange between research scientists and medical doctors helps organic chemistry, but focused his scientific research
academic researchers move a medical diagnostic technique or molecule into
on organo-transition metal chemistry and brought a
the medical world where it can change lives. And by utilizing the resources
level of creativity to the issues of significance in the
TI-3D provides, Sessler has been able to move MGd into clinical trials from
subject that justly earned him international recognition.
which it will hopefully soon be available to cancer patients, pending FDA
As one who enjoyed both intellectual and technical
challenges, Rolly made contributions that addressed
approval. “I don’t think it’s fair to cancer patients to have to wait through
problems ranging from those of largely theoretical and
another five years of trials,” says Sessler. “I’m hoping this will receive a fair
academic interest to those of substantial practical and
hearing from the FDA, and they come to the conclusion that the benefits to
industrial importance. The broad scope of his research
patients outweigh any concern.” Sessler is now closer than ever to meeting
is epitomized by his work on the synthesis and reactions
Miller’s challenge to improve survival rates and quality of life for cancer of cyclobutadiene iron tricarbonl, the role of orbital
patients. symmetry in metal-catalyzed isomerizations of strained
hydrocarbons, and the mechanisms of water gas shift
—Claire McCarthy
reaction and the Fischer-Tropsch process.
—Jack Gilbert
21
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