Tumor Cells can be Tagged by Nanoparticles from Antarctica: University of Chile

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On the glaciers of the Antarctic lie microorganisms that are able to resist extreme conditions like low temperature, ultraviolet light and the absence of nutrients. However, these microorganisms can be synthesized into fluorescent nanoparticles, which could become useful in tracking tumor cells in cancer patients.

Researcher Luis Saona, who works for the Andres Bello University's Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology Department and the University of Chile, has been studying these nanoparticles from Antarctica along with 15 other participants of the Chilean expedition into the Science Polar Station in the cold continent.

Saono has been chemically processing the microorganisms with help of heavy metals like mercury, tellurium and cadmium. The result makes the nanoparticles more toxic and it also changes its biological properties, but the synthetization process is necessary to further see its viability on tumor cells. If viable, the nanoparticles can be used to tag tumor cells.

"The challenge now is to synthetize nanoparticles in a natural manner using microorganisms able to generate these nanostructures in the presence of copper," he told EFE. Copper is supposedly has less toxic properties.

Cancer cells grow more and more resistant to treatment as it progress, which is why there are different types of drugs given to treat patients in different stages of the disease. However, along with killing the cancer cells, the drugs can essentially cause damage to other organs in the body, hence cancer treatments have to be tested several times before they are approved for use.

Meanwhile, nanoparticles have long been used in cancer therapy and diagnosis, per Science Direct. It's mainly used to deliver the treatment into the patient's bloodstream, but it can withstand the toxic levels of cancer cells. The right kind of nanoparticle used and synthesized could affect the results of the treatment.

"You want to design your nanoparticles for the kind of cancer you're treating-whether it's localized or spread through the body," said National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) scientist Cindi Dennis. Phys.Org reported that she and her team are also working on nanoparticles to use with heat in order to kill the cancer cells.

Erik Dreaden of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is also working on nanoparticles to deliver drugs against cancer cells. His system allows for the microorganisms to pack more cancer drugs into the nanoparticles. "When cells pick them up, they not only get both drugs at the same time, but they get the ratio that we preprogram into the nanoparticle," he told Nano Werk.