Nanodiscs Kill Cancer Cells in Vitro

Nanodiscs just 60 nanometers wide could be used to kill cancer cells according to a study by researchers from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and Argonne National Laboratory.

The study, published November 29 in Nature Materials, concludes: "Nanomagnetic materials offer exciting avenues for probing cell mechanics and...advancing cancer therapies." The nanodiscs, made from an amalgam of iron and nickel, move when exposed to a low magnetic field, disrupting the membranes of cancer cells and causing many to self-destruct-a process called apoptosis. In fact, ninety percent of cancer cells in vitro were destroyed after subjecting the nanodiscs to these magnetic fields for just ten minutes, states Elena Hozhlova, one of the study's authors.

Previous studies using magnetic fields to kill cancer cells by hyperthermia required substantially more hertz than the nanodiscs and also proved to have some dangerous side effects. Nanodiscs, however, do not depend on heat, but rather on oscillation "which triggers the programmed cell-death pathway" by means of an ionic electrical signal, according to the study's authors. Nanodiscs utilize a magnetic field one-tenth as powerful as used in earlier studies and should have few side effects, the authors assert.

In an accompanying commentary on the nanodisc study, Jon Dobson of Keele University in Britain writes: "This provides an elegant and rapid technique for targeting tumor destruction without the side effects associated with systemic treatments such as chemotherapy."

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States--second only to heart disease. In 2009, the number of U.S. cancer deaths is estimated at 562,340. By year end, approximately 1,479,350 new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed. The National Institutes of Health estimate the current annual cost of cancer at $228.1 billion: $93.2 billion for direct medical costs (total of all health expenditures); $18.8 billion for indirect morbidity costs (cost of lost productivity due to illness); and $116.1 billion for indirect mortality costs (cost of lost productivity due to premature death).

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Source(s):

"Cancer Facts & Figures," American Cancer Society
Harmon, Katherine. "Conquering cancer with implants? Bioengineered vaccines and magnetic nanodiscs show promise," Scientific American
"Tiny magnetic discs could kill cancer cells: study," AFP