A team of scientists at Arkansas Nanotechnology Center at UALR
(the University of Arkansas at Little Rock) has developed what promises
to be a non-invasive method of eradicating cancer cells while reducing the life-threatening
side effects of chemotherapy and radiation.
The new technique, described in the current issue of the journal Nanotechnology,
was developed by a team led by Dr. Alexandru Biris, assistant professor of applied
science and chief scientist at the Nanotechnology Center. Working in collaboration
with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the team successfully
killed more than 98 percent of the cervical cancer cells used in the study.
The technique introduces nano-sized cobalt particles encased in graphitic carbon
layers inside the cells and thermally activates them by using radio frequency
radiation. By applying low radio frequency radiation – used in some electronic
or electromagnetic devices – the magnetic portion in the nanoparticles
heats up the cancerous cells, destroying them.
The procedure promises a non-invasive method of eradicating cancer cells while
reducing the life-threatening side effects of chemotherapy and radiation.
The technique is described in their new research paper, Cobalt Nanoparticles
Coated with Graphitic Shells as Localized Radio Frequency Absorbers for Cancer
Therapy.
"We have demonstrated that using a combination of a low frequency, low
power radio frequency radiation – which has a high penetration ability
in human tissue – with graphitic-magnetic composite nanoparticles could
prove an excellent means of raising the temperature at the cellular level above
the threshold required for DNA fragmentation or protein denaturation,”
Biris said. “The result is death of the cells. This technique is less
invasive and possesses higher efficiency for targeting localized cells. It also
has the potential to reduce the side effects associated with traditional cancer
therapies.”
With approved research protocols, UAMS scientists are expanding on previous
work involving use of nanostructural materials for killing tumors with lasers.
Using this method, the nanomaterials are introduced through the bloodstream
to be activated with radio frequency energy once they are in the tumors.
“We believe this method is extremely promising for killing cancer cells,”
said Dr. Vladmir Zharov, professor and director of the Phillips Classic Laser
Laboratories in the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. “We
are working now to move this technology toward clinical trials with the ultimate
goal of achieving a safe, effective procedure that leaves a patient cancer free.”
Biris, a native of Romania who earned a Ph.D. in applied science at UALR in
2004, said the delivery of the encased nanoparticle to tumors will also be explored
by binding them to cancer-specific antibodies.
By using antibodies or other nanoparticle bioconjugations – the coupling
of two substances – the nanoparticles are expected to find the cancer
cells even in advanced cases, including places that before now have been considered
inoperable. The nanoparticles can also find undiagnosed micrometastasis, or
the spread of cancer cells from the primary site with the secondary tumors too
small to be detected clinically.
“This research has extended the understanding of the mechanisms that
are responsible for effective nanoparticle targeting and eventually the death
of cancer cells,” Zharov said.
The team’s work is helping to explain the mechanism that is responsible
for the death of the cells by figuring out the localized thermal damages such
as protein denaturation and DNA fragmentation associated with the process. The
finding can be applied to bacteria, viruses, or other biological systems.
Members of the research team working with Biris are:
- Yang Xu, Meena Mahmood, Zhongrui Li, and Enkeleda Dervishi, Nawab Ail,
and Viney Saini, all of all of the Nanotechnology Center and Department of
Applied Science at UALR.
- Vladimir P. Zharov’ group: Ekaterina Galanzha and Evgeny Shashkov,
the Philips Classic Laser Laboratories at UAMS.
- Steve Trigwell of ASRC Aerospace, NASA’s Electrostatic and Surface
Physics Laboratory at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
- Alexandru R. Biris and Dan Lupu of the National Institute for Research
and Development of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies, Cluj Napoca, Romania.
- Dorin Boldor of Louisiana State University’s AgCenter, Biological
and Agricultural Engineering Department in Baton Rouge, LA.
To read Biris’ paper, visit http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/Nano.
Posted October 28th, 2008
