Scientists Successfully Destroy 99% of Cancer Cells Using New Method
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| Scientists have discovered a new way to destroy cancer cells, stimulating aminocyanine molecules with near-infrared light. Photo: Thinkstock |
- Scientists have discovered a remarkable new way to destroy cancer cells, stimulating aminocyanine molecules with near-infrared light. This then causes the molecules to vibrate synchronously so that they are strong enough to destroy the cancer cell membrane.
The aminocyanine molecule has been frequently used for bioimaging, a form of imaging biological objects, as a synthetic dye. Typically, aminocyanine is used in low doses to detect cancer. Aminocyanine is stable in water and sticks very well to the outside of cells.
The research team from Rice University, Texas A&M University, and the University of Texas, says the new approach is a marked advance over another type of cancer-killing molecular machine developed previously, called a Feringa-type motor.
"This is a new generation of molecular machines that we call molecular jackhammers," said chemist James Tour of Rice University.
"They are more than a million times faster in mechanical movement than previous Feringa-type motors, and they can be activated with near-infrared light rather than visible light," he continued.
Launching Science Alert, Sunday (7/4/2024) the use of near-infrared light is important because it allows scientists to target the deepest parts of the body. Therefore, cancer of the bones and organs has the potential to be treated without the need for surgery.
In testing cultured and grown cancer cells in the laboratory, the molecular jackhammer method produced a 99% success rate in destroying the cells. This approach was also tested on mice with melanoma tumors and half of the animals became cancer-free.
"The highlight is that we have found another explanation for how these molecules work," said chemist Ciceron Ayala-Orozco of Rice University.
"This is the first time that molecular plasmons have been used in this way to stimulate entire molecules and produce a mechanical action that is used to achieve a specific goal – in this case, tearing the membrane of a cancer cell," he continued. The research was published in Nature Chemistry.