Gold Nanoshells Help Deliver Cancer Drugs

Gold nanoshells capable of delivering drugs specifically to cancer cells have been created by researchers in China.

Asian Scientist (Feb. 25, 2014) – Gold nanoshells capable of delivering drugs specifically to cancer cells have been created by researchers in China.

The multifunctional ‘smart’ gold nanoshells, described in a paper published in the journal Biomedical Materials, may lead to more effective cancer treatments by targeting only cancer cells specifically and leaving healthy cells untouched.

The nanoshells are guided to specific cancer cells by small peptides situated on the surface of the nanoshells. The peptides attach specifically to markers on the surface of the cells, facilitating the entry of the nanoshells into the cancer cells. The acidic environment inside the cell will then trigger the offloading of the anticancer drugs.

The specific nanostructure of the gold nanoshells also allows near-infrared light to be absorbed and converted into heat, opening up the possibility of using the nanoshells in targeted hyperthermia treatment—another form of cancer treatment whereby cancer cells are exposed to slightly higher temperatures than usual to destroy them.

In their study, the researchers used the gold nanoshells as a building block to which they attached the commonly used anticancer drug doxorubicin and a peptide known as A54.

When tested on human liver cancer cells, the uptake of the nanoshells that had the A45 peptide was three times greater than the uptake of the control nanoshells without the peptide. There was also a significantly reduced uptake of both types of nanoshell by normal healthy cells.

Lead author of the study Dr Shunying Liu, from East China Normal University, said: “The therapeutic activity of most anticancer drugs is limited by their systematic toxicity to proliferating cells, including some normal cells. Overcoming this problem remains a great challenge for chemotherapy.”

“In our study we placed a targeting peptide on the nanoshells, which have been demonstrated to be specific to live cancer cells, improving the targeting ability and drug delivery of the gold nanoshells.”

“The next step of our research is to test the ‘smart’ gold nanoshells in vivo on a liver cancer mouse model. We will also examine how the size of the nanoshells changes their efficacy and how efficient the nanoshells are at converting near-infrared light into heat.”

The article can be found at: Liang Z et al. (2014) ‘Smart’ Gold Nanoshells For Combined Cancer Chemotherapy And Hyperthermia.

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Source: IOP.
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