| Jun 30, 2022 |
Magnetic nanoparticles can release anti-cancer microRNA on command
(Nanowerk News) Researchers are pursuing ever-more sophisticated treatments to tackle lung cancer. Traditional chemotherapy can have serious side-effects throughout the body, so many new treatments are highly targeted. These methods allow controlled release directly at the tumour using selective agents that are less likely to produce off-target effects.
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An article published in Biomedical Engineering Advances ("Development of magnetic nanoparticles for the intracellular delivery of miR-148b in non-small cell lung cancer") presents such a strategy. Daniel Hayes and colleagues at Pennsylvania State University in the United States created magnetic nanoparticles that can be triggered to release a therapeutic payload when stimulated using a magnetic field.
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The technique should allow a doctor to administer the nanoparticles intravenously and then expose the tumour to an alternating magnetic field radiofrequency (AMF-RF) from outside the body. This will trigger the nanoparticles flowing through the area to heat up slightly and release their therapeutic payload precisely where it is needed.
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The payload in question is a short strand of RNA known as a microRNA. In this case, the researchers connected the nanoparticles to a synthetic version of a microRNA called miR-148b, which has been shown to have tumour suppressing activity. Using a heat-sensitive chemical bond called a Diels-Alder cycloadduct, they joined the particles and microRNA, so that the bond would disintegrate and release the microRNA when heated using AMF-RF.
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Upon testing their nanoparticles in lung cancer cells, the research team found that the particles successfully entered the cells and released their microRNA payload when exposed to AMF-RF. One day later, the researchers performed tests to see if the treated cancer cells had died.
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They found that a significant number of cells had died in the group that received the nanoparticle/ AMF-RF treatment compared with groups that received no treatment, nanoparticles with no payload, or fully loaded nanoparticles but no AMF-RF. The results demonstrate that the technique has significant promise, and could pave the way for more advanced studies in animals.
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