Silica cages help anti-cancer antibodies kill tumors in mice
May 24, 2010
Packaging anti-cancer antibodies into particles of chemically modified silica prevent tumor growth and prolong the lives of mice, according to new research by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and University of Washington scientists.
Small chemical ornaments (cones) slow the release of anti-cancer antibodies (blue) from this functionalized mesoporous silica (orange) (artist's rendering, not to scale)
The effect is based on silica’s mesoporous honeycomb-like structures. The researchers first chemically modified mesoporous silica particles of about six to 12 micrometers containing pores of about 30 nanometers in diameter. They found that the extent and choice of chemical modification — amine, carboxylic acid or sulfonic acid groups — determined how fast the antibodies leaked out, a property that can be exploited to fine tune particles to different drugs.
