Nanomedicines put on the “vest” of cancer cells and treat cancer with cancer

It was learned from the School of Pharmacy of Guangdong Medical University that Zheng Mingbin, a Ph.D. from the school, and Cai Lintao, a researcher at the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, have made new breakthroughs in the visualization and precision treatment of cancer with homologous targeted nano-drugs, and developed a “cancer-to-cancer” approach. The research results of the new treatment were recently published in the top journal “ACS Nano” in the field of nanotechnology.

Zheng Mingbin introduced that his research team constructed cancer cell membrane biomimetic nanoparticles (ICNPs), a polymer containing indocyanine green (ICG), and applied them to the diagnosis and treatment of homologous MCF-7 breast cancer tumors. Adhesion molecules expressed on cancer cell membranes, such as epithelial cell adhesion molecules, neurocadherin, and galectin, can “position, navigate” and “anchor” cancer cells to each other through receptor-ligand binding. The nanoparticles wear the “vest” of cancer cells and can adhere to and recognize the adhesion molecules on the membrane of MCF-7 cancer cells, avoiding the impact of cumbersome chemical targeted modifications and potential uncontrollable factors.

“After coating the cancer cell membrane, the nanoparticles not only camouflage themselves, but also reduce the entrapment of the liver and kidneys, and finally achieve the homologous targeted enrichment of MCF-7 tumors. Under the guidance of fluorescence/photoacoustic dual-mode imaging, using near Infrared laser excitation can accurately control the local temperature of the tumor site, achieving visual and precise cancer treatment,” Zheng Mingbin said.

Zheng Mingbin said that the phospholipid material in the outer layer of the nanoparticles is the cancer cell membrane, which is extracted from the cancer cells in the tumor tissue; it uses the adhesion molecules on the outer layer of the particles to target the same or different adhesion molecules on the cancer cells. This enables the diagnosis of cancer cells. Under laser illumination conditions, the photosensitizer of nanoparticles generates heat to kill cancer cells; it is derived from tumors and applied to tumors, achieving “cancer cancer treatment”.