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Friday, 30th October 2009 (526 views)

Gold nanoparticles could be used to deliver powerful cancer treatments directly to affected cells without the toxic side effects seen with other processes, according to reports.

The research was recently published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society by Professor Stephen Lippard of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Dr Chad Mirkin of Northwestern University, Nanowerk stated.

Professor Lippard and Dr Mirkin said they coated the gold nanoparticles with short pieces of nucleic acid. They then chemically attached a non-toxic form of platinum known as platinum IV.

This compound can circulate safely through the bloodstream, allowing it to deliver its payload directly to tumour cells.

Crucially, the researchers found that the platinum IV compound alone was unable to kill any of the treated cancer cells, but when combined with the gold nanoparticle delivery system, they killed treated cells in the same way as cisplatin, a powerful and effective - but highly toxic - drug used for various forms of cancer.

 

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