Quantum Dot Nanoparticles Minimize the Inflammatory Response in Treated Lung Tissue

Nanoparticles composed of an anticancer drug conjugated with "quantum dots” effectively bind to specific lung alveolar macrophages and deliver a potent dose of the medication while retarding an inflammatory response.

Investigators at the University of Buffalo (NY, USA) attached the anticancer drug doxorubicin to semiconductor "quantum dot” nanoparticles. Doxorubicin is a frequently used cancer drug but is known to cause a variety of damaging immune responses in cancer patients.

In the current study doxorubicin alone or conjugated to nanoparticle quantum dots was delivered to rats and mice, and lung damage was assessed. Results published in the September 30, 2010, online edition of the journal Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine revealed that doxorubicin-quantum dots were taken up to a greater extent by lung cells as compared with doxorubicin alone, and the complexes did not cause as severe a proinflammatory response as doxorubicin alone.

"Based on these results, we believe that linking quantum dots with therapeutic drugs may have tremendous potential for diagnosis and treatment of lung injury compared to other nanoparticle formulations, and should be further developed for lung pharmacotherapy applications,” said first author Dr. Krishnan V. Chakravarthy, a research fellow at the University of Buffalo.

"The ability to target specific cells in the lung without exposing surrounding cells and tissue or distant organs to the detrimental effects of drugs is an exciting avenue to explore,” said Dr. Chakravarthy. "We have been able to prove this in both cultured cells and in animals. The technology is still in its infancy, but being able to conduct these experiments in the whole animal makes it more promising as a clinical application. The long-term goal would be to do targeted drug delivery through aerosolized techniques, making it suitable for clinical use.”

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