A Cancer Cell-killing Nanomachine
The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced on March 20 that its research team led by Dr. Jung Young-do has developed a nanomachine that kills a cancer cell by penetrating a cell membrane by means of a molecular movement such as folding and unfolding in a certain cellular environment.
A nanomachine can be defined as a nanosized structure that moves mechanically by using energy. In developing its nanomachine, the team focused on the fact that a protein is divided into an axis and a movable part and the part can be moved around the axis.
In the nanomachine, 2-nm particles serve as an axis and organic molecules are movable. It mechanically folded and unfolded itself in the presence of a cancer cell membrane and caused cell organelle destruction after direct infiltration into the cell. In addition, the team inserted latch molecules releasable only at a low hydrogen ion concentration into the machine so that its mechanical movement can be controlled with greater precision.
“Unlike a nano-carrier that has a capsule form, the nanomachine kills cancer cells by mechanical movement and without anticancer agent,” the team explained, adding, “Its movement is limited and cellular infiltration is impossible in a normal cell with a pH of 7.4 or so, and it can infiltrate into a cancer cell with a pH of approximately 6.8 by the latch operation.”
Details of the research have been published in the latest edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.