Journey Into I Treat headaches and tumors with mini-robots

Revolution in the fight against cancer and pain therapy

It sounds like a new sci-fi movie, but it's real: a German research team has developed a method that allows microscopic, submarine-like vehicles to swim through the body and target agents to the desired applications. In the future, tumors could be effectively combated and pain treated in a targeted manner. Healthy tissue remains largely intact with this futuristic-sounding method.

The scientists of the Mainz University Medical Center and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) recently presented a study paper in which a new therapy for tumors and pain is the central topic. The core of the new treatment are the so-called nanocarriers. These microscopic submarines can be filled with medicine, which is then transported to a target within the body. On the spot, the little companions dock to the immune cells and release the active ingredient there. The study results were recently published in the renowned journal "Nature Nanotechnology".

Formerly matter in science fiction literature, today reality in the research center. Smallest companions swim through the body and deliver medication directly to the required places. (Image: gorbovoi81 / fotolia.com)

Shoot sparrows with shot

Current treatments often use drugs that are distributed throughout the body. The place where the active ingredients are actually used, but is often only small and spatially limited. To counteract this aspect, the study team developed the nanocarrier. These allow targeted delivery of drugs to specific cell types.

One thousandth of a human hair

The scientists describe the Nanocarrier as a kind of miniature submarine about one-thousandth of the diameter of a human hair. The vehicles are so small that they are invisible to the naked eye. Despite the small size, the mini-submarines are suitable as concentrated transport containers for medical agents.

Field of application Cancer control

The surface coating is intended to ensure that the submarines are particularly good at docking with cancer cells permeated tissue. The coating consists mostly of antibodies that function like an address on a package. The antibodies ensure that the nanocarrier can only dock at a certain point, such as tumor cells or immune cells.

Double efficiency

"Previously, these antibodies had to be bound to the nanocapsules with great difficulty using chemical methods," reports Professor Dr. med. Volker Mailänder in a press release on the study results. The team around the professor found that it was sufficient to coat the antibodies and nanocapsule in an acidified solution. Through this simplified procedure, the combination of nanocapsule and antibody would be about twice as efficient.

Decisive improvement

In previous experiments, the chemically coupled antibody almost completely lost its effectiveness when exposed to the conditions prevailing in human blood. In contrast, the non-chemically applied antibodies also work under these conditions.

Sturdy outer shell

"The hitherto customary connection via complex chemical processes can lead to the antibody being altered or even destroyed or the nanocarrier in the blood being rapidly added to proteins," explains Professor Dr. med. Katharina Landfester from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research. The new method protects the antibody and makes the nanocarrier more stable. As a result, a more effective distribution of medication in the body can be guaranteed.

The future is based on nanotechnology therapy methods

The new method makes the coating not only simpler, but also more complete. According to the scientists remains on the Nanocarrier thus less space for blood proteins that could prevent docking to a target cell. Overall, the researchers see the new method as a major contribution to the efficiency and applicability of nanotechnology-based therapy in the future. (Vb)