Anti-cancer microbes
Magnetic bacteria will help fight tumors
Sergey Vasiliev, Naked Science
One of the promising tools for defeating cancer is considered to be means that allow targeted delivery of drugs to the tumor. Scientists are trying a variety of ways to do this — from microscopic robots to ultrasound and X-rays. Recently, a team from the Swiss Higher Technical School of Zurich (ETH Zurich) showed that bacteria with natural magnetism can also solve this problem. The scientists' article was published in the journal Science Robotics (Gwisai et al., Magnetic torque–driven living microrobots for increased tumor infiltration).
Professor Simon Schurle and his colleagues worked with bacteria from the genus Magnetospirillum. These microbes are able to actively move around using flagella, and orient themselves in the Earth's magnetic field due to the presence of magnetosomes filled with iron. This prompted scientists to use external magnetic fields to control the movements of bacteria in order to direct them exactly to the right place in the patient's body.
The authors conducted experiments with live mice and human cell cultures "in vitro", showing that the method really allows you to "command" bacteria. Under the influence of a magnetic field, they are able to pass through the walls of blood vessels and populate the tumor.
The use of a rotating magnetic field significantly increases the efficiency of this process. Microbes literally screw into the vascular membranes, squeezing through the narrowest gaps in them. After an hour, the field can be turned off: by this time, the bacteria are in the tumor and then move independently into the depth.
In the future, Magnetospirillum cells can be modified to carry drugs. Scientists demonstrated this by attaching liposomes to cells — spherical structures filled with fluorescent material. During the experiment, the microbes successfully delivered it to the target. In the future, such liposomes can be filled with healing substances.
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