More Accurate Drug Delivery can be Achieved with Graphene Nanoflakes

Release Date: 23-Sep-2019

A new compound is recently created by the Chemists funded by Swiss National Science Foundation, which is able to deliver the drug in a flexible way. This is able to effectively delivery the drug that targets the prostate cancer cells. In this, incorporation of four different molecules results in the reduction of tumor cell growth and prevents the multiplication of tumor cells.

They developed a new approach based on graphene nanoflakes. These are extremely minute pieces of graphene, which is a regular atomic thin arrangement of carbon atoms. They incorporate different type of molecules to single nanoflakes and transform them into a more accurate and complex system of drug delivery. This research is published in chemical science.

Gernally, the administration of drug in not properly done and most of it does not reach the diseased tissues. The main of the novel drug delivery system is to increase the efficacy of therapeutic substance by delivering them at a particular site of action. This prevents the loss of drug and requires a customized drug delivery system.  

A team under the leadership of Jason Holland, at the University of Zurich Got success in attaching four different types of molecules to a single graphene nanoflake. This results in generation of an ability of the transporting an anticancer drug and delivering it only to certain cancerous cells. This also makes it visible by medical imaging and prolonging its stay in the bloodstream. In a second step, the team tested each function of the new compound, to confirm the desirable activity of that compound.

According to the Jennifer Lamb, first author of the publication, our work demonstrates how to use the graphene nanoflakes as a universal delivery mechanism. They can be used as a scaffold onto which one can add customized components, a bit like Lego bricks. This is possible because of the chemical structure of graphene nanoflakes as they are made of carboxyl groupsandmdash;CO2Handmdash;where additional molecules can be attached.

They also test the activity of the graphene nanoflakes against the prostate cancer cell. They observed that it reduce the growth of cancer cells in mice model. The team is now experimenting with other combinations involving antibodies instead of small peptides. The antibodies bind better to cancer cells, and their larger size should cause them to remain longer in the bloodstream.