Study Could nanoparticles force cancer cells to self-destruct?

Cancer destroying itself with the help of nanoparticles - a utopia?

The fight against cancer has a very high priority in medical research. In Germany, cancer is the second leading cause of death after cardiovascular disease. Cancer therapies are often a physical and psychological ordeal for those affected, since, for example, chemotherapy also affects healthy cells. However, researchers at the Royal University in Stockholm (KTH) have made promising progress in combating cancer. Thanks to nanoparticles, the therapy could be gentler and at the same time more effective.

Nanoparticles as a luring agent for cancer cells

The KTH researchers use special molecules called dendrimers. The molecules are characterized by symmetrically arranged branches and are mixed with an organic sulfur compound. The scientists around Michael Malkoch, professor of fiber and polymer technology at the KTH, are exploiting the efforts of cancer cells, especially larger molecules to attack. When the sulfur compound-enriched dendrimers are attacked by human cancer cells, the cancer cells are prevented from multiplying. Instead, the cells begin to destroy disulfide bridges in the dendrimers. This process releases oxygen radicals, which in turn destroy cancer cells.

Promising future music

In contrast to commonly used chemotherapy, which also destroys many healthy cells and thus complicates the treatment of patients, the use of dendrimers is much gentler because healthy cells are either immune to oxygen radicals or at least have a high tolerance threshold. "The nanomaterial is ultimately split by the body," says Professor Malkoch. So far, however, only the surface has been scratched, of what you can do everything with dendrimers.

"In previous tests, we used a similar material to fill in bone defects," says Malkoch. Thus, in some cases, it has been possible to stabilize bones without plates and nails as a result of a complicated fracture. "It is conceivable that dendrimers will be used in the future as a sheath for tumors and thus to limit the therapy to the location of the tumor," says Malkoch.

Why are dendrimers so good at combating cancer??

Dendrimers are chemical compounds whose structure resembles the ramification of a tree. This structure is also eponymous, because "Dendron" in Greek means "the tree". The dendrimers were discovered as early as the 1980s. They are similar in size and structure to natural peptides and proteins. Due to their size and their symmetrical branch structure, they can accumulate more cancer cells. The study on dendrimer-fighting cancer has been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.