Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles for Cancer Cure

4 July 2007

A new functionalized gold nanoparticles has been designed at the University of Michigan. Researchers James Baker and his team has successfully branched a polymer called dendrimers to the gold nanoparticles that can not only target and kill tumor but it can really be helpful infighting cancer.

Actually it involves a complex process and a gold nanoparticle is especially engineered that it cant only identify, target and kill tumor but to carry the additional drug to slow down the growth of cancer cells or kill the cancer cells. Actually the dendrimers acts as an arm to the gold nanoparticle so that different molecules are attached to the arms. Once the cancer cells are surrounded by gold nanoparticles, lasers or infrared light heats the gold particles so that the dendrimers releases the various molecules to kill tumors.

The research carried out by researchers in laboratory was hybrid nanoparticle. Gold dendrimers contains four or five folic acid and fluorescent dye on each branch of the dendrimer and thereafter the excess charge from the gold nanoparticle was removed. The finding of the research is published in the July issue of Small and detailed demonstration of targeting and imaging cancer cells has been explained.

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