• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Wednesday, October 29, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News

Deadly nanoparcel for cancer cells

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
May 4, 2017
in Science News
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Most tumors contain regions of low oxygen concentration where cancer therapies based on the action of reactive oxygen species are ineffective. Now, American scientists have developed a hybrid nanomaterial that releases a free-radical-generating prodrug inside tumor cells upon thermal activation. As they report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, the free radicals destroy the cell components even in oxygen-depleted conditions, causing apoptosis. Delivery, release, and action of the hybrid material can be precisely controlled.

Many well-established cancer treatment schemes are based on the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which induce apoptosis for the tumor cells. However, this mechanism only works in the presence of oxygen, and hypoxic (oxygen-depleted) regions in the tumor tissue often survive the ROS-based treatment. Therefore, Younan Xia at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, USA, and his team have developed a strategy to deliver and release a radical-generating prodrug that, upon activation, damages cells by a ROS-type radical mechanism, but without the need for oxygen.

The authors explained that they had to turn to the field of polymerization chemistry to find a compound that produces enough radicals. There, the azo compound AIPH is a well-known polymerization initiator. In medicinal applications, it generates free alkyl radicals that cause DNA damage and lipid and protein peroxidation in cells even under hypoxic conditions. However, the AIPH must be safely delivered to the cells in the tissue. Thus, the scientists used nanocages, the cavities of which were filled with lauric acid, a so-called phase-change material (PCM) that can serve as a carrier for AIPH. Once inside the target tissue, irradiation by a near-infrared laser heats up the nanocages, causing the PCM to melt and triggering the release and decomposition of AIPH.

This concept worked well, as the team has shown with a variety of experiments on different cell types and components. Red blood cells underwent pronounced hemolysis. Lung cancer cells incorporated the nanoparticles and were severely damaged by the triggered release of the radical starter. Actin filaments retracted and condensed following the treatment. And the lung cancer cells showed significant inhibition of their growth rate, independently of the oxygen concentration.

Although the authors admit that "the efficacy still needs to be improved by optimizing the components and conditions involved," they have demonstrated the effectiveness of their hybrid system in killing cells, also in places where the oxygen level is low. This strategy might be highly relevant in nanomedicine, cancer theranostics, and in all applications where targeted delivery and controlled release with superb spatial/temporal resolutions is desired.

###

About the Author

Dr. Xia is the Brock Family Chair and Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) Eminent Scholar in Nanomedicine in The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. The Xia group's research activities center on the design and synthesis of novel nanomaterials for a broad range of applications, including nanomedicine, regenerative medicine, cancer theranostics, tissue engineering, controlled release, catalysis, and fuel cell technology. Dr. Xia has received many prestigious awards.

http://www.nanocages.com/

Media Contact

Mario Mueller
[email protected]

http://newsroom.wiley.com/

############

Story Source: Materials provided by Scienmag

Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Five-Year Study on Pediatric Busulfan Drug Monitoring

October 29, 2025

Hospitalization Before Hemodialysis Linked to Increased Mortality

October 29, 2025

Exploring Yoruba Culture’s Impact on Modern Dental Care

October 29, 2025

Simultaneous Raman and Fluorescence Imaging Breakthrough

October 29, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Sperm MicroRNAs: Crucial Mediators of Paternal Exercise Capacity Transmission

    1289 shares
    Share 515 Tweet 322
  • Stinkbug Leg Organ Hosts Symbiotic Fungi That Protect Eggs from Parasitic Wasps

    311 shares
    Share 124 Tweet 78
  • ESMO 2025: mRNA COVID Vaccines Enhance Efficacy of Cancer Immunotherapy

    199 shares
    Share 80 Tweet 50
  • New Study Suggests ALS and MS May Stem from Common Environmental Factor

    135 shares
    Share 54 Tweet 34

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Five-Year Study on Pediatric Busulfan Drug Monitoring

Hospitalization Before Hemodialysis Linked to Increased Mortality

Exploring Yoruba Culture’s Impact on Modern Dental Care

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 67 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.