FM DECEMBER 2018 ISSUE - digital edition

technology
NANO DETECTION OF CANCER
Indian researchers develop carbon nanodots for cancer diagnostics
Researchers from the Indian
Institute of Technology Roorkee,
Delhi have developed fluorescent
carbon nanodots that can aid in the
diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
The team of researchers led by Dr P
Gopinath extracted the nanosized (10 -9
metre) carbon materials from the leaves
of the rosy periwinkle plant for the study.
Their work, supported by the Science
and Engineering Research Board (SERB)
and Department of Biotechnology
(DBT), Government of India, has recently
been published in Colloids and Surfaces
B: Biointerfaces.
The identification of cancer cells and
their inhibition/destruction processes
have been continuing a challenge for
researchers working in the field of
oncology and cancer drug research for
many decades.
Fluorescent signalling
In the past few years, nanotechnology
has emerged as one of the most
promising areas in cancer diagnostics
and treatment and nanomaterials –
materials having dimensions in the
nanometre (10 -9 m) range – are being
increasingly studied as agents in
molecular tumour imaging, molecular
diagnosis and targeted therapy.
Of the many types of nanomaterials
studied, carbon nanodots show
considerable potential. “carbon
nanodot” refers to fluorescent carbonbased
nanomaterials. Carbon dots,
also called carbon quantum dots,
are fluorescent materials that are
well-suited as both therapeutic and
diagnostic agents for cancer because
of two unique characteristics: they
are biocompatible and can be rapidly
excreted from the body Nanodot
particles also have low toxicity and
they produce a reliable optical signal.
In addition, they can be chemically
RESEARCHERS
SYNTHESISED CARBON
NANODOTS BY HEATING THE
LEAVES OF CATHARANTHUS
ROSEUS, COMMONLY
CALLED ROSY PERIWINKLE
modified for use as multimodel probes
and therapeutic conjugates.
The researchers synthesised carbon
nanodots by heating the leaves of
Catharanthus roseus, commonly called
rosy periwinkle and Vinca rosea, in a
process called hydrothermal reaction.
The nanodots were found to exhibit
strong fluorescence, which makes them
suited for diagnostic functions, while
also mediating anti-cancer activity, as
was seen from in vitro studies.
When embryonic fibroblast cells
of the mouse were incubated in
the presence of carbon nanodot
suspensions for a few hours, the cells
exhibited fluorescence, which showed
that the carbon dots had entered the
cells. The team also found that nanodots
inhibited microtubule formation in the
cell nuclei.
Microtubule inhibition
In addition, microtubule inhibition
destabilises the cytoskeletal framework
of the cells and causes cytoplasmic
constriction, all of which leads to the
death of the cell itself. Earlier research
has shown that the alkaloids in Vinca
rosea inhibit microtubule formation and
it is interesting that the carbon nanodots
derived from Vinca rosea retain the
inhibition effect, in addition to providing
a handle for fluorescent labelling of the
cancer cells.
“Such events of real-time imageguided
anticancer therapy by a single
system open a new paradigm in the
field of anticancer therapy”, said Dr.
Gopinath, commenting on the benefits
of these theranostic tools in a press
release.
Dr. Gopinath and his team are
planning next stage animal studies for
further evaluation of these nanomaterials
in oncological applications, for both
diagnostics and treatment.
68 / FUTURE MEDICINE / DECEMBER 2018