Gold Nanoshells Release Chemo on Command

Nov-12-17 Gold nanoshells able to deliver drugs directly to cancer cells could carry more medicine with fewer side effects.

While chemotherapy is an effective way to fight cancer, current methods of delivery tend to affect the entire body, causing uncomfortable side effects. With this in mind, the team from Rice University encapsulated two doses of powerful drugs within a gold nanoshell. After the nanoshells were absorbed by the cancer cells, the team remotely triggered the medicine’s release via a near-infrared laser, releasing the drugs directly into the tumor.

Image Credit: O. Neumann/Rice University
By combining cross sections of a macrophage cell from the x-, y-, and z-axes, researchers could examine how nanoshell-drug complexes (red) distributed inside cells after a 24-hour period of incubation. A dye was used to distinguish the cell nucleus (blue).

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[MEDGADGET.COM]
[NEWS.RICE.EDU]

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