A sample of cancer cells infused with the nanoimpellers fills the bottom of a test tube in Dr. Fuyuhiko Tamanoi's lab in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics at UCLA.(Image Credit: Dave Bullock/Wired.com)
Life Science Space (June 6, 2008)--UCLA scientists have developed a process for targeting cancer cells that could eliminate some of the worst side effects of chemotherapy.
The new technique deploys nanoscale, light-activated containers filled with cancer-fighting drugs throughout the body. These containers release the drugs only when targeted by a special laser, allowing scientists to confine treatment only to desired areas of the body.
Normally in chemotherapy, the drugs are delivered to the whole body and attack healthy cells as well as the cancerous ones, which can be devastating to cancer patients. In a couple of years, these new nanomachines, called nanoimpellers, could help eliminate cancer in specific areas of a patient while the unused drugs pass through the body without affecting healthy tissue.
Figure A shows how cancer cells quickly die after absorbing the nanoimpellers and being exposed to the precisely calibrated laser (413 nm).
Figure B shows how cells that are exposed to the light without the nanoimpellers, or with nanoimpellers but with no anti-cancer drug, end up living a happy cancerous life.
Figure C shows untreated cells and cells infused with unactivated nanoimpellers in the dark.
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Article Linked: http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/multimedia/2008/06/gallery_nanocancer
See also:
- UCLA Press release--http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/researchers-at-ucla-have-designed-46388.aspx
- Medical News Today-- http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/102732.php
- Washington Post.com--http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/04/AR2008040402783.html
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