Navigation Links
Rice chemists cram 2 million nanorods into single cancer cell
Date:11/16/2011

Rice University chemists have found a way to load more than 2 million tiny gold particles called nanorods into a single cancer cell. The breakthrough could speed development of cancer treatments that would use nanorods like tiny heating elements to cook tumors from the inside.

The research appears online this week in the chemical journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

"The breast cancer cells that we studied were so laden with gold nanorods that their masses increased by an average of about 13 percent," said study leader Eugene Zubarev, associate professor of chemistry at Rice. "Remarkably, the cells continued to function normally, even with all of this gold inside them."

Though the ultimate goal is to kill cancer, Zubarev said the strategy is to deliver nontoxic particles that become deadly only when they are activated by a laser. The nanorods, which are about the size of a small virus, can harvest and convert otherwise harmless light into heat. But because each nanorod radiates miniscule heat, many are needed to kill a cell.

"Ideally, you'd like to use a low-power laser to minimize the risks to healthy tissue, and the more particles you can load inside the cell, the lower you can set the power level and irradiation time," said Zubarev, an investigator at Rice's BioScience Research Collaborative (BRC).

Unfortunately, scientists who study gold nanorods have found it difficult to load large numbers of particles into living cells. For starters, nanorods are pure gold, which means they won't dissolve in solution unless they are combined with some kind of polymer or surfactant. The most commonly used of these is cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, or CTAB, a soapy chemical often used in hair conditioner.

CTAB is a key ingredient in the production of nanorods, so scientists have often relied upon it to make nanorods soluble in water. CTAB does this job by coating the surface of the nanorods in much
'/>"/>

Contact: David Ruth
druth@rice.edu
713-348-6327
Rice University
Source:Eurekalert

Page: 1 2

Related medicine news :

1. UF medicinal chemists modify sea bacteria byproduct for use as potential cancer drug
2. Breathing easy: LSU biochemists offer first 3-D model of asthma-causing inflammation enzyme
3. MIT chemists engineer plants to produce new drugs
4. Flu Hits 90 Million Children Under 5 Each Year
5. Getting on your nerves: $1.4 million NIH grant to study the regeneration of nerves
6. Scripps Research scientist receives $1 million research grant from Novo Nordisk
7. Scott & White Cancer Research Institute receives $3.5 million grant
8. Earthquakes Put Millions of Lives, Major Cities at Risk
9. Penn collaborates on $8 million Barretts esophagus research network
10. NYUCD awarded $2.2 million NIH grant to decode genome of caries-causing bacteria
11. BUSM researcher awarded 2 NIH grants totaling over $11 million
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
(Date:6/19/2013)... Philadelphia, Pa. (June 19, 2013) The results of ... issue of Neurosurgery , official journal of the ... is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins , ... One study indicates that continuous "machine learning" using artificial ... survival in patients with advanced brain cancers. Another study ...
(Date:6/19/2013)... study reveals significant disparities between minority and white ... treatment programs. Moreover, these disparities vary widely from ... that for most states there,s something amiss," says ... biostatistics. "There are strong racial and ethnic disparities ... abuse treatment programs successfully, and those disparities are ...
(Date:6/19/2013)... Casual, no-strings sexual encounters are increasingly common ... likely than others to "hook up"? A new ... for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine, published online by ... there are certain factors and behaviors associated with ... , "Given the potential for negative emotional and ...
(Date:6/19/2013)... (PRWEB) June 19, 2013 Effective Environmental Services ... of new websites. These online links are devoted to a ... Tank cleaner, Organic Odor Control Mold Magician and others. , ... fish and animals in the water as well as living ... sludge buildup that can accumulate at the bottom of a ...
(Date:6/19/2013)... 2013 North Carolina-based life sciences ... to advance development of its technologies. , Entegrion’s ... the advanced development of our product candidates Entegrion’s ... Company’s management structure and engaged industry leaders as ... that Michael Galiger will serve as Vice President ...
Breaking Medicine News(10 mins):Health News:Neurosurgery publishes findings of 3 important studies in June issue 2Health News:Neurosurgery publishes findings of 3 important studies in June issue 3Health News:States vary widely on success rates for minorities in drug treatment programs 2Health News:States vary widely on success rates for minorities in drug treatment programs 3Health News:Why are some college students more likely to 'hook up'? 2Health News:Effective Environmental Services Launch New Websites to Serve Customers 2Health News:Entegrion Announces Organizational Changes to Support Advanced Product Development 2Health News:Entegrion Announces Organizational Changes to Support Advanced Product Development 3
... American Journal of Transplantation reveals that cigarette smoke ... would have been prevented by certain drug treatments. Led ... Health Science Center, researchers used mouse transplant models to investigate ... and its mechanism of action. Seven to eight mice ...
... has shown that removing polyps by colonoscopy not only prevents ... disease. Patients in the study were evaluated for up to ... results to date. The collaborative study, led by researchers at ... 23, 2012 issue of The New England Journal of ...
... WEDNESDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) --,Toddlers are more likely to ... quickly and overreact to their children,s behavior, according to a ... behavior of adopted children aged 9 months, 18 months and ... 10 states. Researchers also analyzed genetic data from the children ...
... found that insulin production may persist for decades after the ... appears to be preserved in some patients years after apparent ... March issue of Diabetes Care . ... in patients with advanced type 1 diabetes. However, data ...
... HealthDay Reporter , TUESDAY, Feb. 21 (HealthDay News) -- ... sensitivity, but a new analysis suggests that many people who ... Health experts have claimed that this special diet can ... a substance found in wheat, barley, rye and possibly oats. ...
... HealthDay Reporter , TUESDAY, Feb. 21 (HealthDay ... patients with blocked leg arteries, a new European study ... disease, often suffer from intermittent claudication, which is pain ... legs. Animal experiments had suggested that aspirin might block ...
Cached Medicine News:Health News:Colonoscopy prevents deaths from colon cancer 2Health News:Toddlers With Angry Parents May Have More Temper Tantrums 2Health News:Study finds some insulin production in long-term Type 1 diabetes 2Health News:Is Avoiding Gluten in Foods Always Necessary? 2Health News:Is Avoiding Gluten in Foods Always Necessary? 3Health News:Aspirin as Good as Plavix for Poor Leg Circulation: Study 2
(Date:6/19/2013)... Calif. , June 19, 2013  Omnicell, ... provider of medication and supply management solutions and ... it was named the number one overall pharmacy ... & Infrastructure Report. KLAS, a leading independent healthcare ... automation equipment vendors in its annual rankings. Omnicell ...
(Date:6/19/2013)... Pharma IQ is pleased to announce ... of the results from an industry survey conducted earlier this ... that CROs would be an area of active investment in ... 6 or more clinical trials in the BRIC region. The ... USA Summit explores the latest trends, challenges ...
(Date:6/19/2013)... 19, 2013  It may seem like an odd pairing: ... cancer. But these were two of the most talked about ... Annual Meeting & Expo that just convened in ... focus by some of the top internal medicine experts in ... new research that can not only save lives, but help ...
Breaking Medicine Technology:Omnicell Named Top Vendor in 2013 KLAS Pharmacy Automation Equipment Rankings 2Omnicell Named Top Vendor in 2013 KLAS Pharmacy Automation Equipment Rankings 3Omnicell Named Top Vendor in 2013 KLAS Pharmacy Automation Equipment Rankings 4Pharma IQ Presents the Latest Trends in Clinical Trial Supply 2"Miracle" Breast Cancer Drug and "Youth Hormone" Pill Steal Show at Prestigious Endocrine Society Conference 2"Miracle" Breast Cancer Drug and "Youth Hormone" Pill Steal Show at Prestigious Endocrine Society Conference 3"Miracle" Breast Cancer Drug and "Youth Hormone" Pill Steal Show at Prestigious Endocrine Society Conference 4
... ,Automation continues to gain importance in modern ... consolidation, rising demands from clinicians for rapid ... licensed medical technologists. Ultimately, the laboratories that ... to meet these modern demands. , ,Within ...
... Content Editor Medcompare.com ,According to a November, 2005 ... HIV/AIDS) and the World Health Organization, the number of people ... million people in 2005, with over 3 million deaths caused ... Disease Control shows that over one million people in the ...
Cached Medicine Technology:Optimizing Quality Control Data Management 2Optimizing Quality Control Data Management 3Optimizing Quality Control Data Management 4Optimizing Quality Control Data Management 5Rapid HIV Testing Increases Possibility of Treatment 2Rapid HIV Testing Increases Possibility of Treatment 3
... national reference laboratory and a worldwide leader ... offers an extensive test menu of highly ... and anatomic pathology. Owned by the University ... than half of the nation's university teaching ...
... a national reference laboratory and a worldwide ... ARUP offers an extensive test menu of ... clinical and anatomic pathology. Owned by the ... more than half of the nation's university ...
... national reference laboratory and a worldwide leader ... offers an extensive test menu of highly ... and anatomic pathology. Owned by the University ... than half of the nation's university teaching ...
... ARUP Laboratories is a national reference laboratory ... research and development. ARUP offers an extensive ... medical tests in clinical and anatomic pathology. ... Laboratories' clients include more than half of ...
Medicine Products: