Traceable nanoparticles could be used for drug delivery to cancer cells
Swedish researchers develop biodegradable and non-toxic ‘theranostic’ particles
A recently published study shows how nanoparticles can be formed to efficiently carry cancer drugs to tumour cells. And because the particles can be seen in MRI images, they are traceable.
Both therapeutic and diagnostic in function, the so-called ’theranostic’ particles were developed by a team including Professor Eva Malmström-Jonsson, from the School of Chemical Science at KTH The Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, as well as researchers at Sweden’s Chalmer’s University and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.
Malmström-Jonsson says the particles, which the team developed for breast cancer treatment, are biodegradable and non-toxic.
The research is published in the journal Particle & Particle Systems Characterization.
The study resulted in a method to make nanoparticles spontaneously build themselves up with tailored macromolecules. The formation requires a balance between the particle’s hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts. The hydrophobic portion makes it possible to fill the particle with the drug.
The next step is to develop the system to target tumours that are difficult to treat with chemotherapy
A relatively high concentration of the natural isotope 19F (fluorine) makes the particles clearly visible on high-resolution images taken by magnetic resonance imaging. By following the path of theranostic nanoparticles in the body, it is possible to obtain information about how the drug is taken up by the tumour and whether the treatment is working.
The researchers filled nanoparticles with the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin (known as chemo), which is used today to treat bladder, lung, ovarian and breast cancer. In experiments on cultured cells, they showed that the particles themselves are not harmful but can effectively kill cancer cells after being loaded with the drug.
The next step is to develop the system to target tumours that are difficult to treat with chemotherapy, such as brain tumours, pancreatic cancer, and drug-resistant breast cancer tumours.
‘By targeting groups on the surface, or by changing the size or introducing ionic groups on our nanoparticles, one can increase the selective uptake in these tumours,’ says Andreas Nystrom, an Associate Professor of Nanomedicine at the Swedish Medical Nanoscience Centre and Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute.
‘What we want to do is try to give nanoparticles a homing function on the surface so that the drug is as effective as possible and can be transported to the right place,’ says Malmström-Jonsson.