An article published in the journal “Nature Biotechnology” describes a research that uses nanotechnologies based on the exploitation of DNA for medical purposes. A team of scientists from Arizona State University (ASU) and the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences programmed nanorobots to cut tumorss’ blood supply.
The type of treatment developed by the scientists who conducted this study is based on the possibility to use nanorobots made of DNA to create blood clots and consequently to block tumor cells from feeding. An important factor in this research is that it’s a technique that could be used against many forms of cancer.
The operations that lead to the blood clot must be conducted with extreme precision. That’s possible thanks to the fact that the nanorobots are extremely small because they’re made of DNA but at the same time can be programmed with precision to act on specific blood vessels.
The nanorobots are essentially self-assembling pieces of DNA created thanks to the technique of DNA origami. In very simple words, it’s a technique that allows DNA to fold to create the desired 2 or 3-dimension shapes. This type of technique has been developed over the years and has already been used several times in medical research.
In this research, the nanorobots are assembled starting from a rectangular sheet of DNA origami with a 90 by 60 nanometers size. An enzyme called thrombin, which causes blood to clot, is attached to the surface. Thrombin gets attached to the nanorobots so that they can carry it into the bloodstream.
To program the nanorobots, the researchers used a special aptamer, a nucleic acid that binds to a specific molecule. In this case, the aptamer used binds to nucleoline, e protein produced in abundance on the surface of endothelial cells, which are those that line the inside of blood vessels.
Basically, the nanorobots attach themselves to the walls of the blood vessels near the tumor and release thrombin, which causes the blood to clot and stop the blood flow to the tumor. In the experiments on mice, the effects were seen a few hours after the injection of the nanorobots.
The experiments showed no collateral damage such as the occlusion of other blood vessels so healthy tissues were not damaged. Various types of tumors began to die rapidly and on 8 mice tested 3 showed a complete tumor regression.
According to Hao Yan of ASU, this research represents a considerable progress in the application of DNA-based nanotechnologies in cancer therapies. The experiments that reproduced forms of human cancer such as breast, ovaries, lungs and skin cancer gave interesting results but this is only the first step.
The application of this type of technique to humans is a big step and in these cases the experimentation times tend to be long. However, it’s a very interesting application of nanotechnology that could have very important developments in the coming years.
