Research & Development World

  • Home Page
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Archeology
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Chemistry
    • COVID-19
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Market Pulse
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
      • Software
    • Semiconductors
  • 2021 R&D 100 Award Winners
    • R&D 100 Awards
    • 2020 Winners
    • Winner Archive
  • Resources
    • Digital Issues
    • Podcasts
    • Subscribe
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Webinars

Nanoparticle shape may be key for delivery to cancer cells

By R&D Editors | May 18, 2012

To
treat cancer, scientists and clinicians have to kill cancer cells while
minimally harming the healthy tissues surrounding them. However,
because cancer cells are derived from healthy cells, targeting only the
cancer cells is exceedingly difficult. According to Dr. Hai-Quan Mao of
the Johns Hopkins University Department of Materials Science and
Engineering, the “key challenge is between point of delivery and point
of target tissue” when it comes to delivering cancer therapeutics. Dr.
Mao spoke about the difficulties of specifically delivering drugs or
genetic material to cancer cells at the 2012 Johns Hopkins University
Nano-Bio Symposium.

Scientists
had originally thought they could create a “magic bullet” to patrol for
cancer cells in the body. However, this has not been feasible; only 5%
of injected nanoparticles reach the targeted tumor using current
delivery techniques. Simply put, scientists need to figure out how to
inject a treatment into the body and then selectively direct that
treatment to cancer cells if the treatments are to work to their full
potential.

With
this in mind, Mao and his research team aim to optimize nanoparticle
design to improve delivery to tumor cells by making the nanoparticles
more stable in the body’s circulatory system. Mao’s group uses custom
polymers and DNA scaffolds to create nanoparticles. The DNA serves dual
purposes, as a building block for the particles and as a signal for
cancer cells to express certain genes (for example, cell suicide genes).
By tuning the polarity of the solvent used to fabricate the
nanoparticles, the group can control nanoparticle shape, forming
spheres, ellipsoids, or long “worms” while leaving everything else about
the nanoparticles constant. This allows them to test the effects of
nanoparticle size on gene delivery. Interestingly, “worms” appear more
stable in the blood stream of mice and are therefore better able to
deliver targeted DNA. Studies of this type will allow intelligent
nanoparticle design by illuminating the key aspects for efficient tumor
targeting.

Currently,
Mao’s group is extending their fabrication methods to deliver other
payloads to cancer cells. Small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA),
which can suppress expression of certain genes, can also be incorporated
into nanoparticles. Finally, Mao noted that the “worm”-shaped
nanoparticles created by the group look like naturally occurring virus
particles, including the Ebola and Marburg viruses. In the future, the
group hopes to use their novel polymers and fabrication techniques to
see if shape controls virus targeting to specific tissues in the body.
This work could have important applications in virus treatment.

Johns Hopkins University

Related Articles Read More >

Breakthrough paves way for photonic sensing at the ultimate quantum limit
TROY awarded $161K National Science Foundation grant
NanoScientific Symposium 2022 now open for registration
Seeing more deeply into nanomaterials
2021 R&D Global Funding Forecast

Need R&D World news in a minute?

We Deliver!
R&D World Enewsletters get you caught up on all the mission critical news you need in research and development. Sign up today.
Enews Signup

R&D World Digital Issues

February 2020 issue

Browse the most current issue of R&D World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading R& magazine today.

Research & Development World
  • Subscribe to R&D World Magazine
  • Enews Sign Up
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • 2021 Global Funding Forecast

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search R&D World

  • Home Page
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Archeology
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Chemistry
    • COVID-19
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Market Pulse
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
      • Software
    • Semiconductors
  • 2021 R&D 100 Award Winners
    • R&D 100 Awards
    • 2020 Winners
    • Winner Archive
  • Resources
    • Digital Issues
    • Podcasts
    • Subscribe
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Webinars