Carbon
Na**tubes Purified/Modified to
Deliver Chemo to
Pancreatic Cancer Cells
[IMG]http://cdn.medgadget.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/na**particles-for-pancreatic-cancer.jpg[/IMG]Rice researchers found that chemotherapy agents attached to
Na**tubes are too large to go through the pores of **rmal blood vessels (left), but small e**ugh to pass through the pores of cancer-related vessels. Once through, the customized
Na**tubes can be taken up by
Cancer Cells to
Deliver their therapeutic cargoes. Courtesy of Rei Suzuki/University of Texas MD Anderson
Cancer Center)
Pancreatic
Cancer is a vicious disease that attacks its victims with great speed, is hard to detect, and for which meaningful therapies are nearly***nexistent. Getting
Chemo ***** to reach
Pancreatic tumor
Cells with precision is a challenge. To overcome this, researchers at Rice University and MD Anderson
Cancer Center have been testing a method that relies on
Carbon Na**tubes to
Deliver Chemo precisely into
Cancer cells, and then onward into the cells’ nuclei.
[IMG]http://cdn.medgadget.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/na**-side-2.jpg[/IMG]Laser confocal microscopy images show
Na**tubes combined with polyethyleneimine and fluorescent tags can be taken up by
Pancreatic Cancer cells. The top image shows
Na**tubes with rhodamine B dye in the cells; the center image shows a DAPI-stained cell and the bottom image combines the two. Courtesy of Enrico Andreoli/Barron Group
The scientists used a technique called functionalization, which allows
Chemo agents to be attached to the na**tubes. Scientists also did a good deal of experimentation to discover what size tubes are best for the job. Turns out that 50 na**meters in length was ideal.
The tubes were flushed with chlorine to get rid of oxidizing iron particles that are used as a catalyst during the tubes’ creation. Additionally, the
Na**tubes had a polyethyleneimine (PEI) coating added to their surface, helping the tubes disperse and pass through
Cells walls and into the nucleus.*Shaking up the tubes, presumably using ultrasound, forces them to release their cargo and finally hit their target with a deadly strike from within. The researchers plan to begin testing the new tech**logy on mice who will have allografts of human tumors transplanted into them.
Some details from the study abstract:
High quality single-walled Carbon Na**tubes (SWNTs) were obtained following a new purification procedure, based on using Cl2 gas at high temperature. Cl2-treated SWNTs were fluorinated and modified with branched polyethyleneimine (PEI) to afford covalently functionalised PEI-SWNTs, which were then tested for cytotoxicity both in vitro (HPNE and BxPC3 Pancreatic cell lines) and in vivo (BxPC3 xe**grafts from nude mice) to establish that functionalization with lower molecular weight PEI (600 and 1800 Da) achieved higher cell viability in MTT assay. A shortened version of the na**tubes, PEI(1800)-cut-SWNT (1800 Da branched PEI), was also prepared and tested for cellular internalization in BxPC3 ade**carci**ma cell line. Laser confocal imaging of the Cells after incubation in the presence of RhoB-PEI(1800)-cut-SWNT (covalently labelled with rhodamine B) indicates that the PEI(1800)-cut-SWNTs can reach both the cytoplasm and nucleus of Pancreatic Cancer cells.
Study in
Journal of Material Chemistry B:
Preparation and evaluation of polyethyleneimine-single walled carbon na**tube conjugates as vectors for pancreatic cancer treatment…
More from Rice:
Short na**tubes target pancreatic cancer…
