Gold Coated Liposomes

[Guest guest]

I was interested in the article I reported yesterday about this subject and did

some more digging to see what I could find that would add to the report. This

is some of what I found.

" There's a particular concentration at which you have optimal results, so below

that you don't have enough of the drug to get a good response, and above that it

might be even more toxic. " The new invention could allow doctors to control the

amount of drug released at a time, and to release the drug only in the tumor

region, thereby protecting healthy cells from damage caused by the drug. This is

where the gold lining comes in.

Drugs Coated in Gold

" A property of gold is that it can convert near infrared light into heat, " said

Kachur. " By putting gold on the surface of these liposomes, we can then put in a

stimulus such as near-infrared light. The gold converts the light into heat, the

heat causes the liposome to become leaky, and then whatever's really

concentrated inside can diffuse out through the leaky liposome. "

The theory goes that the amount of infrared light can be varied to control the

amount of drug that is released from the gold-coated liposomes.

Despite increased blood-flow to tumor cells and the key-in-lock action of the

ligands, some liposomes may still end up inside healthy cells. In that case, the

gold-coating could potentially act to prevent release of the toxic drug to the

healthy cells. By selectively shining the infrared light only in the tumor

region, doctors could make sure only liposomes in the tumor region are able to

release the drug.

The invention has another bonus: " The gold-coated liposome is biodegradable,

which is one of the best parts of our system, " said Leung. Currently there are

no approved chemotherapeutic treatments that allow the gold nanostructures to be

eliminated from the body by the body's own mechanisms, said Leung.

Kidneys, the organs that normally filter waste molecules out of the blood, have

a limit as to the size of molecule they can filter. " Because of the size it

degrades into, our system should be clearable via the kidney, which is really

unique, " said Leung.

http://www.laboratory-journal.com/news/scientific-news/chemotherapeutic-drug-del\

ivery-improved

FYI,

Lottie Duthu