Researchers have developed nanoparticles similar to a developing clot which attack tumors and they search for and bind to blood vessels around the tumors and also attract more nanoparticles for targeting the tumors.
These nanoparticles can aid in delivering payload of an imaging compound and act as a clotting agent which helps in obstruction of around one fifth of tumor blood vessels. The research team was led by Erkki Ruoslahti who works at the University of California. With the help of a screening technique it was possible for the researchers to identify a peptide inside the breast cancer tumor.
The peptide was able to identify clotted blood present in the lining of tumor vessels and after clotted blood was confirmed as the binding site, nanoparticles were created from superparamagnetic amino dextran-coated iron oxide and the peptide along with SIO particles offered the particles a tumor homing function.
Via nanowerk
