(July 27th, 2010) Welcome to the ‘geeky’ branch of medicine – nanomedicine. Soon, when we fall ill, we’ll no longer need any pharmaceutical drugs because teensy-weensy particles will take care of everything. The future starts now.
Connoisseurs of a certain science fiction tv series will most certainly be familiar with a race of cybernetic organisms, who make everyone else’s life in the universe a misery. But the medically fascinating thing about them is the nanoprobes circulating in their bloodstream. These nanoprobes, which may be regarded as little robots, can fix anything and thus, protect the body from all sorts of maladies.
Even though ‘nanodoctors’ are still a galaxy away from prescribing tiny robots to sick patients, nanobiotechnology research is currently one of the hottest topics with the most spectacular results. Lo and behold! The remote-controlled worm! In their recently published paper “Remote control of ion channels and neurons through magnetic-field heating of nanoparticles” (Nature Nanotechnology, published online: 27 June 2010), Huang et al. from the University of Buffalo, NY didn’t need any hypnosis skills to make their lab animals, C. elegans, “crawl” to their tune. Superparamagnetic ferrite nanoparticles, which activate temperature-sensitive cation channels, did the trick.
Coated with polyethylene glycol, the nanoparticles accumulated at one end of the worm, the mucous layer located near the mouth. When the researchers then applied a radio-frequency magnetic field to get the particles into action and generate heat, the worms responded accordingly. Of 40 worms tested, 34 stopped their movement and 27 moved in the opposite direction, a typical heat avoidance response. And so the guys from New York were able to directly control cell activity and, with it, animal behaviour. However, instead of using this new behaviour-altering technique for criminal intent (see movies where a hypnotised, innocent victim is ordered to do any misdeeds its “master” wants) this new method, according to Huang et al., promises novel treatment options for diseases such as diabetes or even cancer.
In Berlin, Germany, they are already one step ahead. Here, the world’s first nanoparticle-based cancer treatment “Nano-Cancer® Therapy” was granted EU regulatory approval at the end of June. This novel therapy, developed by MagForce Nanotechnologies AG in cooperation with the Charité, is now ready to tackle those defiant cells, however, only those in brain tumours for now. The advantage of nanoparticle-based treatment is that, in contrast to traditional cancer treatments, it specifically affects only malignant but not healthy cells.
Similar as with the worms, iron oxide nanoparticles, induced by a magnetic field, are brought into oscillation to emit heat. The heat (up to 46°C) damages DNA repair enzymes and ABC transporters of the tumour cell and, in that way, can boost the effect and lower the needed dosage of a simultaneously given radiation or chemotherapy. Patients in Germany will be the first to benefit from this new treatment option but, in the future, the market launch is planned for even more European countries.
And so it seems that anything goes nowadays, maybe, one day soon, we’ll even turn into cybernetic organisms ourselves!
Kathleen Gransalke