Dr. Jai Prakash and his team of scientists have developed nanoparticles that target the immune system.
Previous studies have shown that tumorscells change the alliance of some specific macrophages, which promotes tumor growth. “Macrophages are cells that act as vacuum cleaners of the immune system. Usually they catch intruders and destroy them, but tumor cells can capture them and act against the body,” explains Prakash.
Now scientists have developed nanoparticles thattrain “bad” macrophages that support the tumor to fight cancer. However, these tiny (100–200 nanometers in diameter) cell structures must first be found by macrophages before learning can begin. This is precisely the task that faced the scientists.
To solve the problem, the researchers changedthe nanoparticles themselves. They are composed of a double layer of specific lipids (phospholipids) known as nanoliposomes. They have long tails that often get stuck in the double layer. The scientists replaced some lipids with ones with shorter charged tails. Eventually, they can “flip over” so that the bad macrophages recognize them and engulf the entire particle.
After biologists learned to “catch”macrophages, they can be retrained to fight the tumor. To do this, the researchers added a small component to the bacterial cell wall. These molecules are then also taken up by bad macrophages, causing them to kill cancer cells. It prevents false recognition, protecting healthy tissue.
Notably, captured macrophages can beNot only do they retrain, they also prevent metastasis—the ability of cancer cells to spread throughout the body. Trained macrophages did not allow tumor cells to “prepare” the lung tissue to “receive” tumor cells. It is this process that precedes metastasis. In an experiment on mice, when a tumor cell entered the lungs, the tissue was not ready and it was not possible to create a new tumor.
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