Docile nanoparticles

Traditional chemotherapy can have serious side effects, so scientists are working to create more specific treatments that target the tumor and do not affect healthy tissues. These methods make it possible to control the release of drugs into tumors using selective agents that are less likely to have a side effect.

Daniel Hayes and his colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania in the USA have created magnetic nanoparticles that carry a therapeutic load. They are injected intravenously, and then the tumor is exposed to an alternating magnetic field (AMF-RF) from the outside. As a result, the nanoparticles heat up and release the load exactly where it is needed.

The therapeutic cargo in question is a short chain of RNA, or microRNA. In this study, nanoparticles were loaded with a synthetic version of microRNA (miR-148b), which, as previously shown, has antitumor activity. Using a thermosensitive chemical bond – the Diels-Alder cycloaddition – the researchers combined particles and microRNAs. The bond was broken when heated using AMF-RF, and the microRNAs were released into the tumor.

In experiments on cell lines, the research team found that the particles successfully penetrated cancer cells and released microRNAs under the action of a magnetic field. A day later, the researchers conducted tests to determine whether the treated cancer cells had survived. They found that in the group treated with nanoparticles, a significant number of malignant cells died, compared to the groups that received no treatment, with nanoparticles without a payload or fully loaded nanoparticles, but without exposure to a magnetic field.

The results show that the new method has significant prospects. Animal studies are needed.

Article by J.H.Arrizabalaga et al. The development of magnetic nanoparticles for the intracellular delivery of miR-148b in non-small cell lung cancer is published in the journal Biomedical Engineering Advances.

Aminat Adzhieva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru .