In recent years, foreign and Russian scientists are increasingly trying to apply different nanoparticles to combat cancer, infectious diseases or for the treatment of non-communicable diseases.
In some cases, the nanoparticles themselves are the means for the removal of the tumor or «killers» of microbes and viruses, acting as a kind of «target», which are induced or immune cells, or the laser radiation heats the particles and burning cells.
In other cases, as they say scientists, the nanoparticles are the only means of delivering toxic molecules to the site of infection or into the tumor, which limits their effect and reduce the dose needed for complete destruction of cancer cells. Typically, these nanoparticles are composed of organic compounds «invisible» to the immune system.
Anton Popov Institute of theoretical and experimental Biophysics in Pushchino and colleagues created an unusual nanoparticles of this kind, a key component of which was not organic and the cerium dioxide – a material whose recently Russian scientists have found anti-radiation and antioxidant properties.
These experiments led his team on the idea that the cerium oxide can be used as the basis for the hollow nanoparticles filled with a variety of toxic substances that can damage DNA or other components of healthy cells. Similarly, such «nanograde» can deliver inside the tissues of different proteins and signaling molecules, collapsing when you enter into the bloodstream.
Following this idea, the authors have created hollow nanoparticles of cerium oxide, using a set of relatively simple reagents – ammonia, chloride of cerium, citric acid and calcium compounds. Inside them they put molecules of luciferase, the protein fireflies that produces light in the presence of oxygen or other aggressive oxidants.
These nanoparticles scientists have introduced in culture of nerve cells of rats and human cancer cells, which lived in a highly corrosive environment, saturated with hydrogen peroxide and other hazardous substances.
As notes a press-service of ITEB, most of the nanoparticles were able to penetrate neurons and cancer cells, to dissolve and isolate the luciferin inside them, not outside of their borders. The cerium oxide according to the researchers, the protein was protected from degradation even at very high pH, and did not interfere with his work in a neutral and alkaline environment.
The ability of these nanoparticles to rapidly penetrate cells and protect them from oxidants, according to Popov and his colleagues, distinguishes them from other types of «nanogram», many of which themselves generate a large number of aggressive molecules. This property of cerium, as scientists hope, will help the nanoparticles based on it become the basis for a long-lasting, very effective drugs against cancer and other diseases.
https://chelorg.com/2018/07/10/biophysics-of-russia-created-the-nanograde-for-dangerous-drugs/
