A Honolulu research team is drawing attention far beyond the islands after reporting that an experimental mRNA therapy cut colorectal tumor growth by about half in lab models. Scientists at the University of Hawaiʻi’s John A. Burns School of Medicine used messenger RNA to coax cells into making tiny, single-domain proteins called nanobodies that lock onto PD-L1, a key immune-evasion checkpoint, instead of infusing patients with bulky manufactured antibodies. The work is still firmly in the preclinical stage, and the team stresses it is nowhere near ready for human use.
How the treatment works
According to a paper in eGastroenterology, the researchers loaded mRNA instructions for PD-L1 blocking nanobodies into lipid nanoparticles, a delivery system similar to that used in many COVID-19 vaccines. Once inside host cells, the mRNA prompts those cells to manufacture the nanobodies on site, helping the immune system recognize and attack colorectal tumors.
The publication describes tumor growth slowing across several mouse models and lays out the specific lipid nanoparticle recipe the team relied on. University of Hawaiʻi scientists, including Stefan Moisyadi, are listed among the paper’s contributors.
Early results and local reaction
In Honolulu lab tests, colorectal tumor growth dropped by roughly 50 percent when the therapy was used, according to UH News. Moisyadi told the outlet that nanobodies are smaller and tougher than conventional antibodies, which can help them slip deeper into dense tumors and potentially make them cheaper to produce.
The university’s coverage also points to an early collaboration with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, as the Hawaiʻi group looks to prove the results hold up outside its home lab. For now the findings are limited to controlled models, not patients.
Funding, partners and next steps
Speaking to local television, Moisyadi emphasized that the mRNA platform does not alter a patient’s DNA and “is not a GMO,” while explaining that his lab is hunting for investors and industry partners to push the work from small animal experiments into larger preclinical studies, according to KHON2. The station reports that labs outside Hawaiʻi, including teams interested in brain cancers, have already reached out about adapting the nanobody approach.
Before any human volunteers are even considered, the Honolulu group says it is focused on repeating the results, running deeper safety checks, and figuring out how to scale production so that the treatment can be made consistently and at volume.
Why this could matter for patients
Traditional antibody checkpoint drugs are notoriously pricey, and coverage from MedicalXpress notes that some therapies top $200,000 per year. Nanobodies, which are roughly one tenth the size of full antibodies, tend to be cheaper to manufacture, and encoding them as mRNA could let companies reuse production pipelines refined during the vaccine rush to drive costs down further.
If future human trials confirm that the approach is both safe and effective, the platform could make immune checkpoint blockade more accessible to colorectal cancer patients. That possibility is years away and far from guaranteed, but it is part of what has researchers paying attention.
The work also underscores a familiar pattern in Hawaiʻi science: small, resource-stretched labs turning out ideas with global potential while still needing mainland partners and serious capital to get from petri dish to pharmacy. For now, the mRNA nanobody project sits in the “promising but early” category, with more rounds of testing required before any clinical trial can even be proposed. Expect more headlines if and when industry deals or trial plans are announced.
