Your options are very limited when it comes to battling a deadly brain tumor known as glioblastoma. This prompted the Canadian research team to adopt a novel approach. They tricked cancer cells into taking in carbon nanotubes and used magnetic forces to spin the tubes and shred those cells. Treatment in mice reduced tumor size and extended lifespan in rodents. Researchers hope to see similar results in humans.
Glioblastoma tumors grow rapidly, invade local brain tissue, and become resistant to chemotherapy and radiation, making them very difficult to fight. In addition, cancer cells that are left behind tend to seek revenge despite ongoing efforts to prevent recurrence.
Building on previous work, researchers at the University of Toronto Robotics Institute and Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) loaded carbon nanotubes with iron oxide particles to make them magnetic. We then coated them with an antibody that allowed the tubes to bind to proteins on the outside of the glioblastoma cells. After binding, the tubes were ingested by cancer cells.
Then, by activating a magnetic field near cancer cells, the tubes were rotated, wreaking havoc on the cell’s internal structures, especially the mitochondria, which basically provide cellular energy. It acted like thousands of tiny scalpels slicing cells from the inside out.
In tests using mice, researchers saw a significant reduction in tumor size. We were also able to extend the median lifespan of rodents from about 22 days to about 27 days.
“Mechanical nanosurgery, which uses nanotechnology deep within cancer cells, is a ‘Trojan horse’ approach that allows tumor cells to be destroyed from the inside,” said study co-author, Developmental and said Xi Huang, a senior scientist in stem cell biology. SickKids program.
This process needs to be further fine-tuned before it can be tested in humans, but new developments in the field of glioblastoma treatment, such as making cancer cells self-destruct based on diet, stand out from what has been experienced so far. It’s a welcome thing for some people.
Huang said that while it was developed specifically to help fight glioblastoma, the new nanobot technology could also be tailored to work on other types of tumors. By modifying the coating and redirecting the nanotubes to the desired tumor site, it may be possible to obtain a means of precisely destroying tumor cells in other cancers.
Work published in magazines scientific progressFor more information, please watch the following video.
Description of mechanical nanosurgery
Source: SickKids, University of Toronto
