Recently by the University of Toronto research group led by Warren Chan produced a deformable nanoparticles, which can specifically target tumor cells.
In their ten years of hard study, have been trying to figure out a way to make anticancer drugs attack only cancer, but this is easier said than actually accomplish this goal is particularly difficult.
Under normal conditions, these anticancer drugs through the blood circulation will be in various organs and tissues of the body. In this process, we will kill some normal cells, so it is not only effective against tumor cells no specificity and effectiveness, but also to the body causing serious side effects. For example, stomach pain, nausea and hair loss, because these organs and tissues usually there is the proliferation of rapidly dividing cells, these anticancer drugs often can not distinguish between the normal value of these cells and cancer cells.
The research shows that after a certain structure to deal with some specific double-stranded DNA can be used as different types of tumor cell-specific markers. Chan and his team will this structure of double-stranded DNA, and one made of metal nanocrystalline materials may change the conformation of the formed nanoparticles. These nanoparticles can transport and specifically target tumor cells in the blood. They occur after binding to the tumor cell surface conformation changes, so the transport of anticancer drugs or other signals capable of such materials used by doctors to labeled tumor cells and play a role.
Why, then, it must have these nanoparticles variability it?
According to Chan’s view: “Our body can be seen as a huge ridge of the house, there are a series of compartments (rooms) we want to figure out how to transport an outside thing to a specific room inside so we need. We know the width and higher parameters of each room, and then make a plan view of a series of paths leading to each room and the whole house. ”
Such nanoparticles have deformability can freely flow to the various regions of the body. DNA strand on these nanoparticles allows them to have a specific selectivity for different tumors, because there is a huge difference between a cancer tumor types, may explain why conventional chemotherapy in clinical use for so many years.
“This is how we look at these issues: like from Toronto to Vancouver, if no one tells you how to get where no one gave you a map, or airline tickets, or car, etc. This is why we are facing in this area. status “Chan said,” anticancer drugs targeting this problem is to figure out how to Vancouver, is very simple, do not know a lot of information in this case it becomes extremely difficult to go there. “Chan added:” now we just touched the nanocrystals in vivo technique can help to “deliver” the surface phenomenon, still need to continue to explore in normal organs and tumors and differences that exist in the real reason for the details. ”
Although nanoparticles medical technology in the world there is still far to be actually used, before that there is still a lot of research work to be done, but to find the right target for tumor-specific cancer therapy program has been a big step forward tumor control and treatment .
