Earlier Cancer Detection: Possible with Gold Nanoparticle Probes

Scientists at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology reported that they were able to show that they can identify tumors under the skin of a living animal using tiny gold particles embedded with dyes.

Suggesting that such tools may allow allow doctors to detect and diagnose cancer earlier but less invasively.

Studded with antibody fragments called ScFv peptides that bind cancer cells, the gold particles grab onto tumors after their injection into a mouse. When illuminated with a laser beam, the tumor-bound particles send back a signal that is specific to the dye.

According to senior author Shuming Nie, PhD, a professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University:

“This is a new class of nanotechnology agents for tumor targeting and imaging.
…’been developing light-emitting semiconductor crystals called “quantum dots” into tools for cancer detection and treatment for several years.

However, colloidal gold, or gold particles in suspension, offers advantages compared with quantum dots in that the gold appears to be non-toxic and the particles produce a brighter, sharper signal.

The detail is like a fingerprint, and because of the enhancement provided by the gold surface, the signal from the dye tags is very bright, the distinct peaks in the dye signal mean several different probes could be used at the same time.”

Findings appear online Dec. 23 in the journal Nature Biotechnology and are scheduled for publication in the Jan. 1, 2008 print edition.

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