The new method will help determine whether anti-cancer targeting drugs can be targeted

target drug delivery system can retain healthy tissue around tumors, which is important for effective cancer treatment, but this method only works when targeted in drugs. A team of researchers at Northwestern University has developed a new method that can determine whether a drug can hit a target by analyzing the motion patterns of the drug's nanoparticles in real time.

the medical community has long been looking for alternatives to traditional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy, in addition to damaging diseased cells, can damage healthy tissue and cause painful and even dangerous side effects. Targeted drug delivery systems can deliver drugs directly to the lesions, with fewer side effects than traditional treatments. However, the problem with targeted drug delivery systems is that when drug-carrying nanoparticles enter the body, binding to proteins hinders the targeting ability of nanoparticles.
In a new issue of the journal American Chemical Society Nano, the researchers report that by studying the star-shaped gold nanoparticles used to carry drugs on cancer cell membranes, they found that the nanoparticles moved more widely and rotated faster, maintaining their unique signature motion even when surrounded by proteins, indicating that their targeting ability was not inhibited.
Star-shaped gold nanoparticles are a new treatment for cancer. Previous studies have shown that particles of metal or other materials can be sent to a tumor, which is then manipulated by a laser or magnetic field, and eventually destroyed by heating malignant tumor cells. A multi-pointed star can produce higher temperatures than sperk particles.
Terri Odom, a professor of chemistry at Northwestern University who led the study, said the information could be used in the future to compare the properties of different nanoparticles, such as particle size and shape, and to improve the function of nanoparticles as targeted drug carriers and conveyors. Odom's team is currently screening engineered nanoparticles to determine whether their targeting function can be preserved in the presence of adsorbent proteins.
(
. Xinhua
)