Polymer
Na**flower Encapsulates Two
Cancer ***** to Hit
Tumors with More Punch
[IMG]http://cdn.medgadget.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/na**flower.jpg[/IMG]
Many existing anti-cancer
***** can be disappointingly ineffective in clinical practice, but often it is the delivery method and **t the medication itself that limits effectiveness. Being able to deliver multiple
***** together, each
with a different mechanism of action, to their target can be considerably
More powerful than separate administrations. Researchers at **rth Carolina State University and the University of **rth Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed a “na**flower” made out of a hydrophilic
Polymer that carries camptothecin and doxorubicin directly into
Cancer cells.
The hydrophobic
***** are encapsulated within the polyethylene glycol structure similarly to how proteins fold in on themselves. At about 50 na**meters in diameter, the na**flowers can be injected into the bloodstream to seek out
Cancer cells. In an animal study, the structures stayed together until they penetrated lung
Cancer cells by taking advantage of “lipid raft and clathrin-mediated endocytotic pathway without premature leakage,” according to the study abstract in
Biomaterials. The researchers also tested the na**flowers in a laboratory setting against a number of other cancers, achieving promising results that should pave the way for further pre-clinical studies.
Study in
Biomaterials:
Folding graft copolymer with pendant drug segments for co-delivery of anticancer *****…
More:
‘Na**daisies’ Deliver Drug Cocktail to Cancer Cells…
