Nano Nano... Vascular targeted single-walled carbon nanotubes for near-infrared light therapy

[HysteryDiagnosis]

OF CANCER.

Targeted destruction of wildly dividing cells, this is something I can agree with wholeheartedly and it has nothing to do with supplements or immunotherapy although it probably wouldn't hurt to add them in. Please note the date on this paper. THIS IS WAY IMPORTANT. I hope it proves to be an effective treatment in vivo.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21993223

Vascular targeted single-walled carbon nanotubes for near-infrared light therapy of cancer.
Prickett WM, Van Rite BD, Resasco DE, Harrison RG.
Source

School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering, University of Oklahoma, 100 East Boyd, Room T-335, Norman, OK 73019, USA. Bioengineering Center, University of Oklahoma, 100 East Boyd, Room T-335, Norman, OK 73019, USA.
Abstract

A new approach for targeting carbon nanotubes to the tumor vasculature was tested using human endothelial cells and MCF-7 breast cancer cells in vitro. Single-walled carbon nanotubes were functionalized with the F3 peptide using a polyethylene glycol linker to target nucleolin, a protein found on the surface of endothelial cells in the vasculature of solid tumors. Confocal microscopy and Raman analysis confirmed that the conjugate was internalized by actively dividing endothelial cells. Dividing endothelial cells were used to mimic these cells in the tumor vasculature.

Incubation with the conjugate for 8 h or more caused significant cell death in both actively dividing endothelial cells and MCF-7 breast cancer cells, an effect that is hypothesized to be due to the massive uptake of the conjugate. This targeted cell killing was further enhanced when coupled with near-infrared laser treatment. For confluent (non-dividing) endothelial cells, no cytotoxic effect was seen for incubation alone or incubation coupled with laser treatment. These results are promising and warrant further studies using this conjugate for cancer treatment in vivo.

PMID:
21993223