Nanotechnology Delivers — First Report of Targeted Killing of Tumor Cells
James F. Rusling, Ph.D.
University of Connecticut
NIEHS Grant R01ES013557
Within the family of nanomaterials, carbon nanotubes have emerged as a new alternative and efficient tool for transporting drugs. In new research sponsored by NIEHS, researchers report the first targeted killing of cancer cells in animals using a single wall carbon nanotube drug delivery system.
Single-walled carbon nanotubes are on the order of a few nanometers (about 1/50,000th of the width of a human hair) in diameter and can be several millimeters in length. They have many novel properties that make them potentially useful in a number of applications including electronics, optics, material sciences, architecture, and as targeted drug delivery devices.
In the current study, carbon nanotubes were conjugated with the anti-cancer agent cisplatin along with epidermal growth factor to specifically target head and neck squamous carcinoma cells in mice. In vitro experiments showed that cancer cells treated with carbon nanotubes bound to cisplatin and epidermal growth factor well killed selectively. Control treatments that did not include epidermal growth factor did not affect cell proliferation. In vivo experiments demonstrated rapid regression of tumor growth in mice treated with carbon nanotubes with both cisplatin and epidermal growth factor. Other studies showed that without epidermal growth factor, carbon nanotubes were cleared from the treated areas in less than 20 minutes. These results point to the potential of carbon nanotubes as targeted anticancer drug delivery systems.
Citation: Bhirde AA, Patel V, Gavard J, Zhang G, Sousa AA, Masedunskas A, Leapman RD, Weigert R, Gutkind JS, Rusling JF. Targeted killing of cancer cells in vivo and in vitro with EGF-directed carbon nanotube-based drug delivery. ACS Nano. 2009 Feb 24;3(2):307-16.
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