Gold Nanoparticle Drug Delivery System Designed to Improve Cancer Treatment

Scientists have devised a new drug delivery method that is expected to advance the effectiveness of cancer-killing drugs. The method uses gold nanoparticles with attached DNA that binds to a successful anticancer drug, doxorubicin (DOX).

Early tests indicate this delivery device has the potential to improve significantly the results of cancer chemotherapy. DOX is currently used against cancers of the breast, bone marrow, thyroid, bladder, ovary, small-cell-lung, and several others. "The possibilities of this new system are really exciting,” noted Prof. James C. Dabrowiak, from the chemistry department at Syracuse University (SU; Syracuse, NY, USA). "For example, it would be easy to add to the device molecules that have the ability to target cancer cells. Another possibility is using light excitation to release high concentrations of an antitumor drug directly within the tumor.”

These and other upgrades could enable clinics to focus chemotherapy more tightly on cancer cells and reduce negative side effects on healthy cells in other parts of the body. A significant element of the new system is that the DNA attached to the gold particles is engineered specifically to bind to the DOX antitumor drug. Studies have demonstrated that the DOX can be transferred by diffusion to a receptor DNA molecule.

The gold nanoparticles have an average diameter of only 15.5 nm. A single nanoparticle presents more than 100 DOX sites and that, when multiplied by millions of the particles, could create a massive and lethal assault on a tumor. "We believe this work can bring significant gains in the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatments,” said Mathew M. Maye, SU assistant professor of chemistry and coinventor of the delivery system. "We still have work to do but this advance opens a promising new field of investigation that can lead to important new clinical tools.”

A major advantage of the new system is that the DOX antitumor drug is already accepted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Other similar drugs may be deployed using this system simply by modifying the DNA to bind to a different drug molecule.

The Syracuse laboratory is continuing research to evaluate the toxicity of the system. They will also explore "smart” particles capable of attaching to cancer cells and responding to triggers that will activate drug release. Prior findings revealed that such nanodelivery systems may be within reach and could help deliver large payloads of antitumor drugs where needed.

The work of the Syracuse University team was published in a February 2011 issue of ChemComm, a publication of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

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