Gold nanospheres for cancer treatment and other biomedical purposes
Group of Prof. Zanga collaborates with researchers at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas, who have already used new nanoparticles in targeted photothermal cancer therapy and announced the successful results of these experiments in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.
In the research of a new method of cancer therapy, which is led by Dr. Chun Li at the University of Texas Cancer Center, scientists attached molecules of short peptides to nanospheres that contributed to the adhesion of nanospheres to tumor cells. Further, in experiments on mice with melanoma, tumors were irradiated with infrared laser radiation, which warmed up gold nanoparticles, selectively destroying cancer cells to which these metal particles adhered. Infrared radiation was used for more effective penetration through tissues. Gold perfectly absorbs laser radiation in the near infrared range. Moreover, during the experiments it was found that hollow gold nanoparticles absorbed radiation 50 times more efficiently than solid ones.
Cancer therapy, however, was not the main goal of researchers in the laboratory of Prof. Zanga, when they started this project a few years ago. The group studied various types and shapes of nanoparticles in order to optimize their properties for use in Raman scattering methods – a very interesting optical phenomenon that can be used for recognition of biological molecules and other similar applications. Of course, the ability to change the optical properties of hollow nanoparticles makes them an extremely versatile tool. Group of Prof. Zanga, continuing to work in the direction of nanoparticle optimization, already has a number of additional important results, some of which are being prepared for publication.
The figure above shows an electron microscopic image of a part of a hollow gold nanosphere at a billion–fold magnification (photo: Prof. Zang, Dr. Schwarzberg), at the bottom – an aqueous suspension of hollow gold nanospheres demonstrates the color scheme. The adjusted colors depend on the outer diameter of the particles (range 25-50 nm) and the wall thickness (range 3-7 nm). (Image: Prof. Zang).
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru26.03.200