Gold Nanoparticles As a Future Cancer Treatment

Scientists at the University of Southampton (United Kingdom) have developed smart nanomaterials, which can disrupt the blood supply to cancerous tumors. Antonios Kanaras and colleagues have showed that a small dose of gold nanoparticles can activate or inhibit genes that are involved in angiogenesis – a complex process responsible for the supply of oxygen and nutrients to most types of cancer. Further, the team was able to control the degree of damage to the endothelial cells – cells that line blood vessels and play a pivotal role in angiogenesis – using laser illumination. Endothelial cells construct the interior of blood vessels and play a pivotal role in angiogenesis. The researchers submit that: “Our results show that plasmon-mediated mild laser treatment, combined with specific targeting of cellular membranes, enables new routes for controlling cell permeability and gene regulation in endothelial cells.”