Although chemotherapies have been highly useful as targeted treatments for cancer, researchers have discovered some new methods to treat cancer and other disorders.
Using a molecular process that mimics a highly-accelerated form of natural evolution, the team of researchers sought out nucleic acid ligands or aptamers. Because of their three-dimensional structures, aptamers can be trained to bind to certain target molecules with high affinity and selectivity. When the target is a cancer-associated receptor, these aptamers can be used as molecular tools to recognise specifically diseased cells.
The team then 'loaded' the aptamers with large, fluorescent RNAs generating nucleic-acid nanostructures. Upon incubation with target cancer and non-target cells, only malignant cells were illuminated by the nanostructure showing that the structures had correctly bonded with their intended targets.
The findings, which highlighted the power of translational precision medicine, appeared in the Journal of Nature Communications.
No comments:
Post a Comment