CHICAGO, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they've developed a method of targeting brain cancer cells by using titanium dioxide nanoparticles bound to a biological material.
The researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago's Brain Tumor Center said their new nano-bio technology might eventually provide an alternative form of therapy that targets only cancer cells and does not affect normal living tissue.
"It is a real example of how nano and biological interfacing can be used for biomedical application," said Argonne scientist Elena Rozhkova. "We chose brain cancer because of its difficulty in treatment and its unique receptors."
The director of the university's Brain Tumor Center, Dr. Maciej Lesniak, said the significance of the work lies in the ability to effectively target nanoparticles to specific cell surface receptors expressed on brain cancer cells.
"In so doing, we have overcome a major limitation involving the application of nanoparticles in medicine, namely the potential of these agents to distribute throughout the body," Lesniak said. "We are now in a position to develop this exciting technology in preclinical models of brain tumors, with the hope of one day employing this new technology in patients."
The research is reported in the journal Nano Letters.
