Skip to main content

Gold Nanotubes To Cure Cancer

Scientists has found out that Gold nanotubes can be used in fighting Cancer; internal nanoprobes for high-resolution imaging; drug delivery vehicles; and agents for destroying cancer cells.
The article published in the journal, Advanced Functional Materials, details the first successful demonstration of the biomedical use of gold nanotubes in a mouse model of human cancer.
 Dr Sunjie Ye, who is based in both the School of Physics and Astronomy and the Leeds Institute for Biomedical and Clinical Sciences at the University of Leeds, said:  “High recurrence rates of tumours after surgical removal remain a formidable challenge in cancer therapy. Chemo- or radiotherapy is often given following surgery to prevent this, but these treatments cause serious side effects.
Gold nanotubes – that is, gold nanoparticles with tubular structures that resemble tiny drinking straws – have the potential to enhance the efficacy of these conventional treatments by integrating diagnosis and therapy in one single system.”
The study’s corresponding author Professor Steve Evans, from the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leeds, said: “Human tissue is transparent for certain frequencies of light – in the red/infrared region. This is why parts of your hand appear red when a torch is shone through it.
“When the gold nanotubes travel through the body, if light of the right frequency is shone on them they absorb the light. This light energy is converted to heat, rather like the warmth generated by the Sun on skin. Using a pulsed laser beam, we were able to rapidly raise the temperature in the vicinity of the nanotubes so that it was high enough to destroy cancer cells.”
In order to see the gold nanotubes in the body, the researchers used a new type of  imaging technique called ‘multispectral optoacoustic tomography’ (MSOT) to detect the gold nanotubes in mice, in which gold nanotubes had been injected intravenously. It is the first biomedical application of gold nanotubes within a living organism. It was also shown that gold nanotubes were excreted from the body and therefore are unlikely to cause problems in terms of toxicity, an important consideration when developing nanoparticles for clinical use. 
“The nanotubes can be tumour-targeted and have a central ‘hollow’ core that can be loaded with a therapeutic payload. This combination of targeting and localised release of a therapeutic agent could, in this age of personalised medicine, be used to identify and treat cancer with minimal toxicity to patients.” . 
Source: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/3662/gold_nanotubes_launch_a_three-pronged_attack_on_cancer_cells
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A new future weightless Insulation material

A totally new insulation material has been developed that is totally weightless but can still withstand high temperature, that would not be tolerated by other materials and destroy it. The porous aerogel is at least 99 percent open space , with the rest made up of an atomically thin ceramic called hexagonal boron nitride. The design proves extremely durable under high temperatures and rapid temperature shifts of over 1,000 degrees Celsius.  “It’s notoriously hard to make materials that are not just lightweight, but can also be heavily heat resistant,” says Deep Jariwala, an engineer at the University of Pennsylvania.  The new ultralight insulator may be especially well suited to shielding components on spacecraft , which must endure extreme temperature swings when turning toward or away from the sun or re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, he says.  The aerogel comprises a network of tiny air pockets, with each pocket separated by two atomically thin layers ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Scientists have created glasses-free 3D holograms using graphene

Three-dimensional holographic images are a mainstay in many sci-fi films. But in real life, we’ve struggled to achieve the same effect without the use of annoying 3D glasses. Now scientists from Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia have used a graphene-based material to create a full-colour, pop-up, 3D floating display - visible from a wide angle with the naked eye. The effect was created using a graphene oxide, and could be applied to the touch-screen surface of smartphones or watches, the authors Min Gu and Xiangping Li explain over at The Conversation. Holograms work by bending light off the screen in a carefully controlled way so that, instead of bouncing directly back into your eye, it makes it appear as though it's projected off a separate display. The Swinburne researchers were able to create the floating 3D display by tweaking the refractive index - the measure of how much light bends as it passes through a medium - of graphene...
Post a Comment
Read more

Top 3 Fastest Hydrogen Powered Car

When it comes to racing using hydrogen powered car, this top three car will win the show. Hydrogen powered car uses hydrogen gas as a fuel which combust with oxygen to form water. #3. Aston Martin Rapide :  British luxury marque ASTON MARTIN  introduced AM Rapide S in early 2010.  The Rapide is powered by a 5,935 cc V12 engine , producing 470 bhp and torque of 443 lbf·ft (601 N·m). It is Rear-wheel drive  and has a six- speed Touchtronic automatic. The Rapide can reach a top speed of 188.5 mph (303 km/h),  and accelerate 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.3 seconds, or 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 5.0 seconds. #2. BMW H2R : This car built by BMW uses liquid hydrogen as a fuel. The H2R’s 6.0-liter V-12 engine, which draws on BMW 's Valvetronic  and Double-Vanos  technology, is based on the 760i’s gasoline-fueled powerplant. This H2-powered high performer generates 232 horsepower (173 kW), helping it t...
Post a Comment
Read more