When Jedi Knights need to vanquish an enemy, they whip out their trusty lightsabers. In the future, thanks to Johns Hopkins researchers, doctors seeking to crush cancer may wield minuscule molecular nanoSABERs that allow them to look at tumors in ways never before possible.
“This could be a game changer for cancer treatment,” said Barman, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the Whiting School, of the self-assembling biorthogonal enzyme recognition (nanoSABER) probes. The team’s results appear in Advanced Science.
Currently, tissue biopsies are the gold standard for detecting most cancers, though they can be inexact and even miss parts of tumors lurking in the margins. The Johns Hopkins team’s approach could solve that problem, allowing clinicians to visualize cancerous activity across entire tumors, providing insights into their possible aggressiveness.
Enzymes, especially legumain, play a leading role in the development and progression of cancer.
The team’s new tool assembles itself in the presence of these cancer-related enzymes and emits a signal that can then be picked up by Raman spectroscopy, a visualization technique that analyzes molecular vibrations to identify and characterize substances. This allows the probes to pinpoint cancer cells accurately.
The Johns Hopkins team says its method also could allow clinicians to more accurately monitor the accumulation of cancer drugs in tumors during treatment, providing an indication of how well those treatments are working.
“The probes’ ability to offer a clear look at the molecular, cellular, and tissue levels provides a comprehensive perspective,” said lead author Swati Tanwar, a post-doctoral fellow in mechanical engineering. “It is imperative to understand what is really happening at the tumor margins to ensure complete cancer removal and minimize the chances of recurrence.”
Study co-authors at Johns Hopkins include Behnaz Ghaemi, Piyush Raj, Aruna Singh, Lintong Wu, Dian R. Arifin, and Michael T. McMahon. The team also included Yue Yuan of the University of Science and Technology of China.
More information: Swati Tanwar et al, A Smart Intracellular Self‐Assembling Bioorthogonal Raman Active Nanoprobe for Targeted Tumor Imaging, Advanced Science (2023). DOI: 10.1002/advs.202304164
Journal information: Advanced Science
News
Lockdowns prematurely aged teenagers’ brains, study suggests
Teenage girls' brains may have prematurely aged by up to four years during the Covid pandemic, an American study suggests. Adolescent boys weren't immune either with their brain's also showing signs of undue wear [...]
Long COVID Still a Mystery: Routine Labs Show No Reliable Biomarkers
Routine lab tests are not reliable for diagnosing Long COVID, according to a new study. The research found that no clinical lab values could serve as biomarkers, highlighting the need to focus on symptoms [...]
Tiny magnetic robots could treat bleeds in the brain
Researchers have created nanoscale robots which could be used to manage bleeds in the brain caused by aneurysms. The development could enable precise, relatively low-risk treatment of brain aneurysms, which cause around 500,000 deaths globally [...]
Turning Mosquito Spit Into a Weapon Against the West Nile Virus and Other Deadly Diseases
Anita Saraf investigates mosquito saliva to understand how viruses like dengue and West Nile are transmitted, using mass spectrometry to identify potential targets for vaccines and treatments. You might guess it’d be tough to [...]
Ethics in Nanomedicine: Key Issues and Principles
Nanomedicine, a branch of nanotechnology, is revolutionizing healthcare by enabling the manipulation of materials at the nanoscale to diagnose, treat, and prevent diseases. Unlike traditional treatments, nanoparticles (NPs) are highly precise in targeting diseased [...]
A call for robust H5N1 influenza preparedness and response
As the global threat of H5N1 influenza looms with outbreaks across species and continents including the U.S., three international vaccine and public health experts say it is time to fully resource and support a [...]
Mucosal COVID-19 boosters outperform mRNA shots in preventing upper airway infections
In a recent study published in Nature Immunology, a team of researchers from the United States used non-human primate models to compare the protection conferred by an intramuscular booster dose of the bivalent messenger ribonucleic acid [...]
How Space Travel Really Changes Astronauts – From the Inside Out
International team reveals previously unknown effects on physiology that could shape the future of long-duration space missions. Researchers have discovered significant changes in the gut microbiome due to spaceflight, which affects host physiology and [...]
Breakthrough in blood stem cell development offers hope for leukemia and bone marrow failure
Melbourne researchers have made a world first breakthrough into creating blood stem cells that closely resemble those in the human body. And the discovery could soon lead to personalized treatments for children with leukemia [...]
Scientists Develop Game-Changing Needle-Free COVID-19 Intranasal Vaccine
A new mucosal COVID-19 vaccine poised to revolutionize the delivery process is especially beneficial for those with a fear of needles. A next-generation COVID-19 mucosal vaccine is set to be a game-changer not only when delivering [...]
Scientists Develop All-in-One Solution To Catch and Destroy “Forever Chemicals”
A new water treatment system developed by UBC researchers efficiently removes and destroys PFAS pollutants using a dual-action catalyst, offering a sustainable and cost-effective solution for water purification challenges. Chemical engineers at the University of [...]
New method accelerates drug discovery from years to months
Researchers from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Cincinnati Children's Hospital have found a new method to increase both speed and success rates in drug discovery. The study, published Aug. 30 in [...]
A new smart mask analyzes your breath to monitor your health
Your breath can give away a lot about you. Each exhalation contains all sorts of compounds, including possible biomarkers for disease or lung conditions, that could give doctors a valuable insight into your health. [...]
Study reveals the role of blood clotting in COVID-19
In a study that reshapes what we know about COVID-19 and its most perplexing symptoms, scientists have discovered that the blood coagulation protein fibrin causes the unusual clotting and inflammation that have become hallmarks [...]
A Novel Cancer Vaccine Combining Nano-11 and ADU-S100
In a recent article published in npj Vaccines, researchers detailed the development of a novel cancer vaccine that combines a plant-derived nanoparticle adjuvant, Nano-11, with a clinically tested STING agonist, ADU-S100. The primary objective was [...]
AI spots cancer and viral infections with nanoscale precision
Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence which can differentiate cancer cells from normal cells, as well as detect the very early stages of viral infection inside cells. The findings, published today in a study [...]
