Smart, traceable drug delivery can make cancer therapy more effective

In today’s era, an easy way to track any location is to navigate through GPS. Similarly, smart and trackable drug delivery systems can improve efficiency of cancer treatment. Imaging techniques can help visualize the drug carrier and monitor its delivery to the target tissues. However, a single visualization technique is usually not enough to track the drug with precision. Indian scientists have now designed multifunctional, smart and trackable drug delivery systems.

Researchers have developed multifunctional gold nano-structure that can be used in cancer imaging and therapy.

Nano-systems can simultaneously transfer drug and allow imaging of tumor. However, it is very critical to differentiate the drug carrier system from surrounding tissues and the targeted area.

Although imaging-guided local drug administration has been used widely to treat cancer but it is still very difficult to achieve accurate drug delivery if single imaging technique is used. Designing nano-structures with multi-imaging functionality wherein one imaging system can complement another allows better visualization, assistance and delivery of drug.

“We have designed a Nano-IRIS consisting of gold nano-rattles surrounded by layer of solid silica and mesoporous silica. The nanostructure looks similar to that of an iris of the human eye,” explained the leader of the research team.

Gold nano-rattles are similar to a toy rattle, consisting of a solid gold core encapsulated within thin gold shell. ‘Raman reporters’ were loaded into these porous gold nano-rattles, which allow tissue imaging through Surface- enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS).

In order to load doxorubicin - a fluorescent anti-cancer drug - the gold nano-rattle was coated with mesoporous silica layer. “Since gold reduces the fluorescence of the drug when placed in its proximity, the gold nano-rattle was first coated with solid silica followed by mesoporous silica, onto which the drug is loaded. This increases the distance between gold and the drug and thereby, retains the fluorescence of the drug,” said the researcher.

Raman and fluorescence imaging confirmed the uptake and landing of the drug in breast cancer cells. The uptake and chemotherapeutic potential of the Nano-IRIS was corroborated by the cell death in breast cancer cells. “The challenging part of the study was synthesis of such a complicated system,” he said. The group is now planning further studies and exploring chemotherapy combined with photo-thermal therapy for enhancing the therapeutic efficacy.

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