Novel Nano-Containers Enhance Effect of Anticancer Therapeutics
Researchers at the Center for Self-assembly and Complexity, part of the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), have developed innovative nano-containers capable of delivering anticancer drugs with precise timing and localization.
These nano-containers have been designed to minimize the side effects of chemotherapy on healthy tissues.
The unique structures of these pumpkin-shaped molecules, called mono-allyloxylates cucurbit uril, enable them to act as surfactants in water.
Unlike typical surfactants such as soap molecules in bubbles or phospholipids in cellular membranes, which have small water-loving heads and long fat-loving tails, these molecules, AO1CB[7], have a short hydrophobic allyloxy tail but still form vesicles in water.
By utilizing the tails, AO1CB[7] molecules aggregate into colloidal particles. When agitated in water, AO1CB[7] forms a cloudy solution, and the resulting vesicles serve as carriers for anticancer drugs.
The vesicles can be triggered to release the drugs at specific locations and times by carefully controlling their disruption.
Apart from facilitating self-assembly, the allyloxy tail of AO1CB[7] is also photosensitive. When exposed to UV light (365 nanometer wavelength), it reacts with molecules like glutathione found in cells, causing the AO1CB[7] vesicles to break apart.
Instead of using a single-photon UV laser, the researchers opted for a near-infrared two-photon laser (wavelength 720 nanometers) that can penetrate deeper into tissues with enhanced precision and reduced scattering.
The use of the two-photon laser enables drug delivery to be localized to the target area, minimizing damage to healthy tissues surrounding the tumor.
This technology has been successfully tested in the laboratory for delivering the chemotherapeutic drug Doxorubicin to cervical cancer cells (HeLa cells).
The drug was capable to exit the vesicles and reach the nucleus of the cancer cells, and eventually kill them.
