NanomedicineCenter.com

A new way of treating cancer on the way?

A team of scientists from the University of Toronto have found that, by modifying a protein that improves the process of preventing cancer growth, a new way of treating cancer is on the way. The protein they have been researching is called von Hippel-Lindau (VHL).

Tumors are known to have very low blood supply when they grow. Therefore, some parts — including the center of the tumor — have low levels of oxygen and are said to be hypoxic. Cells in these parts produce hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) that makes it possible for them to keep on growing. Now, under normal conditions VHL degrades HIF — but VHL is deactivated when oxygen levels are low. So, in hypoxic regions of a tumour, just where VHL is needed to inhibit cancer, it is ineffective. That’s why scientists created a new type of VHL — a type that doesn’t stop working if oxygen levels are low.

“We have genetically removed the Achilles’ heel of VHL to permit unrestricted destruction of HIF,” said Michael Ohh, one of the researchers. “The level of HIF is usually very high under conditions of low oxygen but when we put in our bioengineered VHL its levels go right down to a level that would be comparable to that in normal oxygen levels.”

The details are published in EMBO Molecular Medicine.

Adopted from materials provided by the University of Toronto

Taiwan exploring how nanotech affects health

Taiwan, among other Asian countries, is heavily investing in nanotechnology — especially nanomedicine. They recognized the potential, and they’re jumping into it. However, they’re being cautious — National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan started a project which is supposed to explore the effects of nanotechnology on health.

The main goal of this research is to minimize the side effects caused by products based on nanotechnology. The officials in Taiwan reported that the value of products based on nanotechnology standards is over US$8.8 billion.
“Most of the simulation software currently used for nanotechnology research and its effect on the human body only supports the computation of either inorganic material or organic molecules. NCKU is the first institute to achieve a breakthrough that combines the simulation of organic and inorganic substances,” said Michael Lai, one of the researchers.

Is there an alternative to radiation

You may have heard that nanotechnology is already being applied in many industry branches, but probably the most promising subfield of nanotechnology is nanomedicine. Researchers from the University of Alberta, led by Jie Chen, are working on developing a new technique which would allow them to replace chemotherapy and radiation, thus “killing” all the side effects caused by these methods.

The researching crew is doing experiments with injected nanoparticles that contain a bamboo compound that is sensitive to ultrasound. “So when the ultrasound is used and treated or targeted towards these compounds, then you will activate and generate something which can destroy the cancer, so it’s much safer compared to the conventional radiation,” said Chen.

As always when new technologies arise, security concerns come in the way. “It has been shown in animal experiments for example that very small particles can overcome the intestinal barrier and can go into the bloodstream and can go into the organs,” said Herman Stamm, a member of European Commission’s Joint Research Center. What they worry about is that the injected nanoparticles don’t really destroy themselves. They can actually stay in your body and go somewhere where they are not intended to go. Of course, that can cause problems.

Adopted from materials provided by cbc.ca