Nanotechnology scientists at two Arkansas research institutions have developed
a method of detecting, tracking, and killing cancer cells in real time with
carbon nanotubes.
The discovery opens the prospect of a new, major front in the fight to eradicate
cancer with promise for a new generation of cancer treatment beyond surgery,
radiation, and chemotherapy.
Dr. Alex Biris, University of
Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) chief scientist at the Nanotechnology Center
and assistant professor of applied science in University's Donaghey College
of Engineering and Information Technology, and Dr. Vladimir P. Zharov, professor
and director of the Phillips Classic Laser and Nanomedicine Laboratories in
the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Winthrop P. Rockefeller
Cancer Institute, published their findings in the latest issue of the Journal
of Biomedical Optics.
“Until now, nobody has been able to fully understand and study in vivo
and in real time how these nanoparticles travel through a living system,”
Biris said. “By using Raman spectroscopy, we showed that it is possible
not only to monitor and detect nanomaterials moving through the circulation,
but also to detect single cancer cells tagged with carbon nanotubes. In this
way, we can measure their clearance rate and their biodistribution kinetics
through the lymph and blood systems.”
Zharov emphasized that in vivo Raman flow cytometry is promising for the detection
and identification of a broad spectrum of various nanoparticles with strong
Raman scattering properties, such as cells, bacteria, and even viruses.
“Before any clinical application of nanoparticles, it is imperative to
determine their pharmacological profiles,” Zharov said. “And this
tool will provide this function as a supplement or even an alternative to the
existing methods.”
In their research, Biris, Zharov, and UAMS colleague Ekaterina Galanzha, M.D.,
injected a single human cancer cell containing carbon nanotube material in the
tail vein of a test rat. They were able to follow the circulation of the carbon
nanotubes in the blood vessels to the rat’s ear, tracking the cell through
the rat’s blood stream, lymphatic system, and tissue with a Raman spectrometer.
In the same issue of the scientific journal, Biris and Zharov published a second
paper discussing how nanoparticles can tag cancer cells. A laser then heats
the nanoparticles, killing the cancer cell.
“If we are able to target cancer cells using these nanomaterials, we
can monitor where the cancer cells are specifically located, and then we can
kill them,” Biris said.
He said the live rat experiment shows how the cancer killing process leaves
only a dead cell and nanoparticles that, within a matter of hours, disintegrate
and die.
Dr. Mary Good, dean of UALR’s Donaghey College of Engineering and Information
Technology, said the medical and economic ramifications of the discovery are
significant.
“The research Dr. Biris and Dr. Zharov have conducted indeed is significant
and promising,” said Good, former technology undersecretary of Commerce
in the Clinton administration. “It points to a whole new direction for
medical applications for nanoparticles. There still is extensive time needed
for research into the ultimate utility for these approaches and for human subject
experiments. But this early work is exciting and provides long-term hope for
more effective cancer treatments.”
Biris, 34, said the UALR Nanotechnology Center’s aim is to accelerate
the development of commercial applications of nanotechnology and its potential
to revolutionize medical advancements and the next generation of manufacturing
of other products.
“The close location of UALR with its cutting-edge analytical chemistry
and nanotechnological tools, along with UAMS and its established biological
and medical infrastructures, provides unique opportunities for comprehensive
pre-clinical evaluation of nanotechnological products,” Zharov said. “That
allows for us to accelerate Nanotechnology advances from bench to bedside, providing
breakthroughs in early diagnosis, prevention and effective treatment of cancers,
stroke, heart attack, infections, and neurological disorders which remain the
leading cause of death in the U.S.”
Posted May 20th, 2009
