For the first time tiny rocket-shaped synthetic motors have been placed inside live human cells. What has been a staple of science fiction is now a promising method to treat cancer, US scientists say.
The researchers from Penn State University have successfully embedded synthetic nanomotors into HeLa cells, an immortal line of human cervical cancer cells typically used in research studies, according to a press release published on the university’s website.
"As these nanomotors move around and bump into structures inside the cells, the live cells show internal mechanical responses that no one has seen before," said Tom Mallouk, Evan Pugh Professor of Materials Chemistry and Physics at Penn State. The findings were published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition on Monday.
"As these nanomotors move around and bump into structures inside the cells, the live cells show internal mechanical responses that no one has seen before," said Tom Mallouk, Evan Pugh Professor of Materials Chemistry and Physics at Penn State. The findings were published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition on Monday.
Until now the researchers studied nanomotors only "in vitro” - in a laboratory apparatus, said Mallouk, adding that the experiment in human cells was performed for the first time.
Similar nanomotors were developed at Penn State University ten years ago, however they were chemically powered and could not move in cells.
"Our first-generation motors required toxic fuels and they would not move in biological fluid, so we couldn't study them in human cells," Mallouk said. "That limitation was a serious problem."
Then the research team made a breakthrough by discovering that the ‘tiny rockets’ could be powered by ultrasonic waves.
Using low ultrasonic power the nanomotors have little effect on the cells, however when the power is increased they start actively moving “bumping into organelles - structures within a cell that perform specific functions,” Mallouk explained.
“The nanometers can act as egg beaters to essentially homogenize the cell's contents, or they can act as battering rams to actually puncture the cell membrane,” according to the press release.
"Our first-generation motors required toxic fuels and they would not move in biological fluid, so we couldn't study them in human cells," Mallouk said. "That limitation was a serious problem."
Then the research team made a breakthrough by discovering that the ‘tiny rockets’ could be powered by ultrasonic waves.
Using low ultrasonic power the nanomotors have little effect on the cells, however when the power is increased they start actively moving “bumping into organelles - structures within a cell that perform specific functions,” Mallouk explained.
“The nanometers can act as egg beaters to essentially homogenize the cell's contents, or they can act as battering rams to actually puncture the cell membrane,” according to the press release.
Credit RT
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