Thessaloniki U.: Students with innovative solutions against cancer in global competition

Student interdisciplinary teams iGEM Thessaloniki and iGEM MetaThess will represent the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – AUTh with two new projects, in the global competition “iGEM Competition”. Specifically, the iGEM Thessaloniki team will participate in the competition that will take place in October 2022 in Paris with the THERIAC project, while the iGEM MetaThess team with the DIAS diagnostic tool.

The rector of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Nikos Papaioannou, met today with the members of the two groups, and stated that “the Aristotle University is full of creative energy and innovative ideas”. “Our students, with their initiatives, their innovative ideas and with all the supplies they receive from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, set and claim high goals in the international academic environment”, noted Mr. Papaioannou.

THERIAC: The work – “antidote”

The name of the project is “THERIAC” (THEranostics using RNA Interference for Application in Cancer) and comes from the Greek word “beast”. In ancient times it was used as a preparation, first as an antidote to animal poisoning and toxins and then as a panacea.

The aim of the project is to create an innovative flexible molecular tool with simultaneous diagnostic and therapeutic action that could be used to effectively diagnose and treat multiple cancers with minimal side effects, which are mainly due to the destruction of healthy cells during treatment.

The cancer model that will be used to evaluate the tool will be glioblastoma multiform cancer, which is responsible for 48% of malignant brain tumors, with low life expectancy and lack of effective non-invasive treatment. In this way, the foundations for a more effective and targeted diagnosis and treatment of this type of cancer are strengthened.

The molecular tool will be able to adapt to the diagnosis and treatment of different types of cancer, but in the future to other pathological conditions.

The eleven-member team of iGEM Thessaloniki consists of undergraduate students of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, namely the Department of Medicine Lydia-Despina Aggelou, the Department of Agriculture Athanasios Thomopoulos, the Department of Physics Styliani Kioutsiki and Ioanna Houstoumaikos Smidiakios M , of the Department of Chemistry Despina Papadopoulou and Elli Peitsini, of the Department of Pharmacy Panagiota Papadopoulou and of the Department of Mathematics Stylianos Sfondylis. The scientific leader of the iGEM 2022 team is the associate professor of the Department of Medicine, Michael Aivaliotis.

The DIAS diagnostic tool

The iGEM MetaThess team will build the DIAS (Diagnostic Investigation Accurate System) diagnostic tool for non-small cell lung cancer, which accounts for 84% of lung cancer cases. It is the cancer with the highest mortality rates worldwide for men and women due, among other things, to untimely diagnosis.

The DIAS diagnostic tool is a cheap and accurate diagnostic tool, which by detecting specific biomarkers in patients’s blood, will be able to make a diagnosis in the early stages of the disease. Early diagnosis can lead to immediate surgery to increase patients’ survival rates. In addition, this way possible metastases can be avoided.

DIAS uses a simple mechanism and does not require expensive laboratory equipment, so it can be easily used by all diagnostic centers. It is a microfluidic chip in which the blood sample is inserted, processed inside the device and finally gives a diagnostic score with the possibility of cancer. This microchip can be made with 3D printing techniques, facilitating their widespread production by industries in the future.

The eight-member iGEM MetaThess team consists of graduates and more postgraduate students of AUTh and specifically of the graduate of the Department of Pharmacy and postgraduate student of the Department of Medicine Alexandros Giannopoulos, the graduate of the Department of Pharmacy Io and postgraduate student of the Department of Pharmacy Konstantinos Kardamiliotis, the graduate of the Department of Pharmacy Maria Kosmidou, the graduate of the Department of Biology and PhD candidate of the Department of Pharmacy Aliki Papadimitri and the graduate of the Department of Pharmacy Physics Dimitris Trygoniaris. Scientific Leader of the iGEM MetaThess 2022 team is associate professor of the Department of Pharmacy Ioannis Vizirianakis.