Development Of Innovative Chemotherapeutics For Cancer Treatment That Overcome Drug-Resistance And Polyamine Metabolism


Dr. Mahendiran Dharmasivam (GU Post-doctoral Felllow)

Dr. Mahendiran Dharmasivam (GU Post-doctoral Felllow)

Prof. Des Richardson (Primary Supervisor)

Brief description:

For patients, it’s devastating news when the drug that has been working in treating their cancer is no longer effective and multi-drug resistance (MDR) develops. Poor response to chemotherapy is linked to the resistance protein, P-glycoprotein (Pgp). We discovered special anti-cancer drugs (thiosemicarbazones known as DpC and Dp44mT) that cleverly “hijack” and use Pgp in lysosomes to kill tumours.

Additionally, recently as a further intriguing discovery, we showed this class of iron-binding drugs also shuts down tumour polyamine synthesis. This is a critical, as polyamines are vital for cancer growth. Thus, we will develop for the first time DUAL ACTING frontier anti-cancer drugs that: (1) overcome resistance; and (2) inhibit cancer-promoting polyamine synthesis.  


Interested in this project? contact us to get more information on undergraduate, honours or phD Opportunities.